SRLF 

DA 


S7 


Itotre  Dame  "  Series  of  OIKS  or  the  Saints, 


ST    MARGARET 
QUEEN    OF    SCOTLAND 


Nihil  obstat. 

Georgius  H.  Bennett,  S.T.D., 
Censor  deputatus. 

Imprimatur. 

*  JACOBUS  AUGUSTINUS 

Archiep.  S.  Andr-et  Edimburgen. 

Edimburgi  die  16  Mali  ign. 


OUHEN  OF  SCOTLAND 

(  FROM  THE  KOT>!.kK  IN  THE  SCOTS  CCiLKUK.  ROMF.  ) 


ST  MARGARET 

QUEEN    OF    SCOTLAND 


LONDON 
SANDS  &  COMPANY 

15  KING  STREET,  COVENT  GARDEN 

AND 
EDINBURGH 

1911 


TO 

ALL  THE  SCOTS 
WHO  HAVE  INHERITED 

OR 

EMBRACED  THE  FAITH  OF  ST  MARGARET 
QUEEN  OF  SCOTLAND 


PREFACE 

SCOTLAND  is  not  over-rich  in  saints,  or,  to  speak 
more  correctly,  in  saints  enrolled  in  the  Universal 
Calendar.  And  the  reproach  is  sometimes  made, 
half  humorously,  that  its  only  canonised  saint 
among  women — she  whom  Pope  Innocent  IV. 
raised  to  that  honour  in  1250,  and  whose  life  here 
follows — came  from  England.  Reasons  could 
easily  enough  be  given  to  account  for  the  dearth, 
or,  at  least,  the  obscurity,  of  Scottish  saints. 
Meantime,  the  fact  itself  makes  St  Margaret  all 
the  more  precious  to  us.  She  shines  as  a  bright 
particular  star.  There  is  no  Scot,  whatever  his 
creed,  but  is  proud  that  his  country,  in  the  days 
of  its  independence,  numbered  her  among  its 
queens. 

The  story  of  St  Margaret  of  Scotland,  and  of 
what  she,  a  most  devoted  child  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  achieved  for  God  and  her  country,  can 

never  be  told  too  often.    One  would  fain  hope  that 

ix 


*  PREFACE 

the  biography  here  presented  may  fall  into  the 
hands  of  many  who  profess  not  the  faith  of 
St  Margaret.  It  gives,  indeed,  a  most  admirable 
picture  of  the  Saint  in  her  heroic  practice  of  virtue 
and  piety,  and  this  is  the  principal  thing.  It  will 
enkindle  and  inflame  devotion  to  her  in  every 
Catholic  breast,  and  incite  to  imitation.  It  could 
not  indeed  be  otherwise :  her  piety  was  so 
attractive.  The  present  biographer  has  not  failed 
to  indicate  in  due  season  the  points  wherein  she 
may  and  should  be  imitated.  Prior  Turgot,  her 
confessor,  and  afterwards  Archbishop  of 
St  Andrew's,  tells  us  somewhere  in  the  "  Life  " 
of  his  royal  penitent,  which  has  been  relied  upon 
throughout  as  a  prime  authority,  that  her  pro- 
found contrition  and  her  shedding  of  tears  at  the 
most  trivial  imperfection  often  compelled  tears 
from  his  own  eyes. 

But  this  book  does  more  than  that.  It  shows 
St  Margaret  to  us  as  a  true  reformer — and  in  this 
respect  she  resembles  not  distantly  both 
St  Theresa  and  St  Catherine  of  Siena — accom- 
plishing, virtually  alone,  much-needed  improve- 
ments in  the  condition  both  of  Church  and  State, 


PREFACE  xi 

without  disturbing  the  constitution  of  either. 
And  withal  she  stands  before  us  as  a  model 
queen  and  mother,  ruling  well  her  house  and 
kingdom,  and  lifting  Scotland  to  a  height  of 
prosperity  till  then  unknown.  Interspersed 
judiciously  throughout  the  narrative  and  illus- 
trating it,  we  meet  with  brief  sketches  of 
contemporary  history,  so  that  the  attentive  reader 
will  not  only  learn  to  love  Margaret,  but  will  see 
the  men  and  manners  and  events  of  the  period 
living  again  before  him  on  every  page. 

Moreover,  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  add,  that  in 
our  days  such  a  book  as  this  has  a  special  value, 
as  showing  what  great  things  one  frail  woman  can 
accomplish,  provided  only  she  be  at  once  submis- 
sive to  the  authority  of  Holy  Church  and  at  the 
same  time  strive  earnestly  after  the  perfection  the 
Church  requires  of  all  her  children. 

HENRY  GREY  GRAHAM. 

MOTHER  WELL,  ESPOUSALS  OF  OUR  LADY,   1911. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 
PREFACE        .......  JX 

INTRODUCTION  I 
CHAPTER 

I.       IN    HUNGARY         -  14 

II.      IN   ENGLAND          -  21 

III.  IN   SCOTLAND        -  32 

IV.  WIFE   OF   MALCOLM   CANMORE       -  51 
V.       PROTECTRESS    OF   THE   POOR          -  73 

VI.      QUEEN   OF    SCOTLAND  -                      89 

VII.      ST   MARGARET  AND   EDINBURGH  -  -         IO4 

viii.     ST  MARGARET'S  MISSION   -  -      120 

IX.      ST  MARGARET  AND  THE  CHURCHES  -           -         136 

X.      APOSTLE    OF    SCOTLAND  -         146 

xi.     ST  MARGARET'S  JOURNEYS  -      156 

XII.      A   PEARL  AMONG   WOMEN      -  170 

XIII.  ST   MARGARET   AND  THE   CROSS   -  -         l8o 

XIV.  LAST    YEARS                                              -  -         194 
XV.       DEATH  -         199 

XVI.      BURIAL          -  -        2l6 

xvn.     ST  MARGARET'S  CHILDREN  -      230 

XVIII.       PATRON    OF    SCOTLAND  -        239 

INDEX  -         251 

xiii 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 


ST  MARGARET         » 

ST  MARGARET'S  HOPE  - 

ST  MARGARET'S  CAVE  - 

EDINBURGH  CASTLE  - 

DUNFERMLINE  ABBEY 

ST  MARGARET'S  CHAPEL,  EDINBURGH  CASTLE 

ST  MARGARET'S  TOMB  - 


Frontispiece 
Facing  Page  39 
63 

105 

139 


203 
226 


xv 


ST  MARGARET 

QUEEN  OF  SCOTLAND 
INTRODUCTION 

THE  LAND  OF  ST  MARGARET 

FIFE  is  the  "  Land  of  St  Margaret."  Its  ancient 
town  of  Dunfermline  was  her  favourite  home  for 
over  twenty  years ;  she  was  married  in  the  old 
Tower;  and  several  of  her  children  were  born 
there.  It  is  long  ago — eight  centuries  and  more 
— since  the  good  Queen's  sweet  face  and  kind 
heart  made  sunlight  in  its  people's  homes ;  but 
the  atmosphere  is  full  of  her  still.  There  are  the 
ruins  of  the  royal  dwelling;  there,  all  that 
remains  of  the  beautiful  Abbey  Church,  built  by 
St  Margaret  and  great-headed,  great-hearted 
Malcolm,  her  husband;  and  there,  too,  is  her 
tomb,  empty  these  three  hundred  years.  It  is  an 


2  ST   MARGARET 

immense  double  plinth  of  grey  marble,  no  longer 
in  its  place  of  honour  within  the  church  but  out- 
side in  the  churchyard,  in  all  that  is  left  of  the 
ancient  Lady  Chapel. 

The  great  Presence  is  gone  from  the  stately 
church  and  St  Margaret's  relics  are  gone,  too. 
Her  sacred  bones  no  longer  rest  in  Fife,  either  in 
the  church  or  beneath  that  huge  grey  stone. 
When  John  Knox's  rabble  were  abroad  on  their 
work  of  destruction  the  Catholics  of  Fife  feared 
that  their  dear  Saint's  remains  might  suffer 
desecration,  and  so,  with  loving  care,  they 
removed  them  to  a  place  of  safety.  The  des- 
troyers came,  and  expended  their  fury  on  the 
marble,  as  the  marks  of  the  hammers  still  show ; 
but  the  sacred  relics  were  beyond  the  power  of 
their  malice.  And  after  three  hundred  years, 
the  empty  tomb  with  every  other  memorial  of  the 
holy  Queen,  is  dear  to  the  people  of  her  own 
Dunfermline,  in  spite  of  the  faithlessness  of  their 
fathers  to  the  Church  of  St  Margaret. 

In  the  eleventh  century,  Fife  was  a  rugged 
land  of  hills  and  glens.  There  were  green  slopes 
and  great  expanses  of  moorland  covered  with 


THE  LAND  OF  ST  MARGARET      3 

gorse  and  heather;  as  well  as  densely-wooded 
forest  land  extending,  in  some  parts,  down 
almost  to  the  sea.  It  was  an  ideal  hunting- 
ground  :  tradition  tells  that  Malcolm  Canmore 
found  it  to  be  such;  and  also  that  it  was  on  the 
occasion  of  a  successful  hunting  expedition  that 
he  discovered  the  beautiful  glen  of  Pittencrieff, 
and  chose  it  for  the  site  of  a  royal  dwelling. 
Mercer,  a  local  poet,  tells  how  the  Celtic  king, 
charmed  with  the  wild  grandeur  of  the  place,  and 
noting  with  his  practised  eye  its  great  natural 
strength,  made  his  sudden  but  momentous 
decision  : — 

"  Here  to  the  brim  a  goblet  fill!  " 

He  cried,  and  stood  upright; 
"  This  to  our  fort  upon  the  hill, 

Soon  may  it  rise  to  sight, 
Unblotted  ever  be  its  fame, 
And  aye  Dunfermline  be  its  name." 

When  St  Margaret  came  to  Scotland  the 
Tower  of  Dunfermline  was  Malcolm's  favourite 
residence.  It  stood  on  the  most  precipitous  part 
of  a  small  peninsula  formed  by  the  windings  of  a 
rippling  burn,  and  was  almost  aggressive  in  its 
strength.  Built  for  safety  rather  than  for  beauty, 


4  ST    MARGARET 

it  was  surrounded  by  rocks  and  cliffs  and  forest 
land ;  and  alone  in  its  glory,  for  the  church  and 
palace  were  things  of  the  future,  it  looked 
proudly  down  over  uplands  and  valleys  to  the 
distant  sea,  that  then  as  now  shimmered  like 
liquid  silver  in  the  sunlight,  or  lashed  itself  into 
snowy  foam,  when  the  winds  were  high. 

The  paths  trodden  by  St  Margaret  on  her 
errands  of  love  and  mercy,  are  covered  to-day  by 
the  streets  of  the  busy  town;  and  the  wild 
fastnesses  where  Nature's  beauty  brought  her  so 
close  to  Nature's  God,  have  long  ago  given  place 
to  house  and  garden  and  cultivated  field.  One 
sacred  fragment  of  the  old-time  woodland  has 
indeed  been  saved,  in  spite  of  the  present-day 
tendency  to  cover  every  available  space,  in  and 
about  a  town,  with  buildings.  This  is  the  wooded 
dell  or  "  den,"  as  it  is  called  locally,  in  which  is 
still  to  be  seen  the  cave  oratory  of  the  holy 
Queen.  Here  she  was  wont  to  repair,  alone  and 
in  secret,  to  spend  hours  in  sweet  communion 
with  her  Lord,  with  no  eyes  to  see,  except  those 
of  the  angels. 

The  oratory  is  a  natural  cavern  in  the  rock.    It 


THE  LAND  OF  ST  MARGARET      5 

measures  some  ten  feet  by  eight  and  about  seven 
feet  in  height,  and  probably  is  little  changed 
since  St  Margaret  knelt  within.  All  else  is  very 
different.  In  the  eleventh  century  the  silent 
woods  were  around,  and  the  only  sounds  of 
human  life  came  from  the  Tower  on  the  hill. 
Now  the  busy  streets  of  Dunfermline  are  close  to 
the  old-world  cave,  and  the  pilgrim  who  would 
fain  dream  himself  back  in  the  eleventh  century 
is  recalled  to  the  twentieth  by  the  tinkling  bells 
of  electric  cars. 

It  was  a  devoted  son  of  the  ancient  town  and 
evidently  a  lover  of  St  Margaret  who  saved  this 
treasure  for  Dunfermline  and  Scotland.  But  for 
his  zeal  it  would  probably  have  shared  the  fate  of 
too  many  of  the  relics  of  Catholic  times  and  we 
should  only  be  able  to  read  that  it  once  had  been. 

St  Margaret's  Cave  is  not  a  thing  of  the  past. 
It  can  still  be  seen,  but  he  who  would  see  it  must 
seek  for  it.  "  Seek  "  then  "  and  you  will  find," 
and,  ere  you  leave  the  holy  place,  kneel  and  say 
a  prayer  for  the  conversion  of  Scotland,  there, 
where  St  Margaret  prayed  the  same  prayer  so 
well,  long,  long  ago. 


6  ST   MARGARET 

The  dell  where  the  cave  is  situated  and  the 
cave  itself,  with  its  holy  well,  is  a  favourite 
theme  with  local  poets.  One  of  them,  Thomas 
Morrison  by  name,  says  of  it : — 

"  Quaint  legends  to  our  hearts  endear 

Our  sainted  Scottish  Queen : 
Alone,  unseen,  oft  strayed  she  here 

In  thoughtful  mood,  serene; 
Thus  oft  from  yonder  ancient  towers 

She  sought  from  pomp  to  dwell, 
And  pondered  o'er  life's  fleeting  hours 

Beside  her  cherished  well." 

This  well,  one  of  the  many  bearing 
St  Margaret's  name,  may  still  be  seen  by  the 
visitor  to  her  cave ;  and  there  are  Dunfermline 
people  even  in  these  sceptical  days  who  drink  of 
its  limpid  water  with  loving  faith  and  thank  the 
good  Queen  for  consequent  relief  from  pain. 

Nothing  now  remains  of  Malcolm's  "  strong 
Tower  "  except  its  foundations,  and  the  palace, 
built  by  St  Margaret  or  her  children,  is  only  a 
picturesque  ruin.  To  those  of  the  old  faith,  how- 
ever, the  very  ground  is  holy,  and  the  stones  of 
the  ancient  buildings  have  wondrous  things  to 
say  to  those  who  know  how  to  listen.  Their 


THE  LAND  OF  ST  MARGARET      7 

whispers  are  magical  and  transport  us  backward 
through  the  intervening  centuries  till  we  live 
again,  not  only  in  the  land,  but  in  the  days  of 
St  Margaret.  When  we  look  at  the  Abbey,  alas  ! 
the  spell  is  broken,  for  we  are  reminded  no 
longer  of  zealous  building  up,  but  of  wicked 
breaking  down.  The  first  church  of  the  Holy 
Trinity,  built  by  St  Margaret  and  her  husband 
soon  after  their  marriage,  gave  place  wholly  or  in 
part  to  a  more  splendid  edifice,  erected  by  their 
youngest  son,  David  I. ;  and  this  was  further 
beautified  and  improved  by  Alexander  II.  in  the 
thirteenth  century.  The  splendid  Gothic  choir 
and  transepts  of  Alexander's  Church  retained 
their  beauty  for  three  hundred  years,  when  they 
fell  before  the  fury  of  the  vandals  of  so-called 
Reformation  days,  just  as  Scotland's  earliest 
churches  had  fallen  before  the  wild  onsets  of  the 
Danes. 

The  Abbey  church  has  been  restored  in 
modern  times,  but  the  nineteenth  century  build- 
ing has  little  of  the  exterior  majesty  and  none  of 
the  interior  beauty  of  its  predecessors.  In  the 
shadow  of  the  pillars,  perhaps,  it  is  possible  to 


8  £T   MARGARET 


dream  for  a  while  of  glory  passed  away  —  of  a 
great  high  altar  with  ornaments  of  gold  and 
gleaming  lights,  and  of  priests  in  gorgeous  vest- 
ments, offering  to  the  God  of  Heaven  and  Earth, 
the  supreme  act  of  worship  —  the  Sacrifice  of  the 
Mass.  We  may  shut  our  eyes  and  listen  a  while 
to  the  deep-toned  chanting  of  the  monks;  then 
bow  our  heads  at  the  mystic  hush  of  the 
Elevation,  when  the  priest  in  Christ's  place,  says 
"  This  is  My  Body  ;  this  is  My  Blood,"  and  God 
comes  down  again  to  earth  to  visit  His  people. 
Alas  !  It  is  but  a  dream  !  There  is  no  Mass,  no 
real  Presence,  no  altar  now  in  Dunfermline 
Abbey  church.  It  is  a  Protestant  place  of 
worship  and  contains  a  reading-desk  and  a  plain 
table,  as  well  as  a  pulpit  which  is  pointed  out  to 
visitors  as  a  thing  of  beauty,  but  there  are  no 
suggestions  of  St  Margaret,  and  those  of  her 
faith  are  glad  to  exchange  the  atmosphere  of  the 
modern  church  for  that  of  the  Abbey  ruins. 

When  we  have  breathed  the  air  that  the  good 
Queen  breathed  and  lingered  in  the  haunts  she 
loved,  until  it  seems  that  we  live  again  in  her 
far-off  age,  it  is  a  wonder  if  we  do  not  find  our- 


THE  LAND  OF  ST  MARGARET      9 

selves  wandering  along  the  path  by  which  she 
first  came  to  Dunfermline,  eight  hundred  years 
ago.  It  probably  coincides  for  the  most  part  with 
the  broad,  well-made  road  which  leads  to 
Queensferry;  but  the  aspect  of  the  country 
to-day,  with  its  wealth  of  cultivated  fields  and 
prosperous  dwellings,  is  very  different  from  that 
presented  to  the  eyes  of  the  Saxon  Princess  in 
1069,  in  the  days  when  sower  and  sowing  time 
were  alike  unknown  in  the  fair  land  of  Fife. 

Queensferry  is  on  the  shore  of  the  Firth  of 
Forth,  "  the  sea  which  separates  Lothian  from 
Scotia,"  as  an  ancient  writer  calls  it,  and  which 
Queen  Margaret  crossed  and  recrossed  many 
times  on  her  journeys  between  Dunfermline  and 
Edinburgh.  Almost  midway  between  the 
'  ancient  toon  ' '  and  Queensferry  there  is  a  great 
stone  on  the  hillside  with  many  peculiarities  of 
its  own.  St  Margaret's  Stone,  as  it  is  called,  is 
well  known  throughout  the  country  and  it  has 
many  visitors,  archaeologists  and  geologists  as 
well  as  historians  and  simple  lovers  of  the  good 
Queen.  It  is  perched  on  the  crest  of  one  of  the 
undulations  by  which  the  land  rises  from  the 


io  ST    MARGARET 

Forth  to  Dunfermline,  and  tradition  tells  how 
the  Saxon  Princess  and  her  friends,  weary  of 
climbing  the  hill,  rested  here  and  waited  for  the 
coming  of  the  Scottish  King.  As  the  fair  exile 
leaned  her  head  against  the  stone — her  stone  for 
ever  after,  in  memory  of  its  brief  service — of 
what  was  she  thinking?  Did  she  ponder  God's 
designs  in  this  strange  adventure  and  wonder 
where  and  how  her  wanderings  were  to  end ;  or 
did  she,  thus  early,  get  one  of  those  strange 
glimpses  into  the  future  with  which  she  seems  to 
have  been  gifted  in  later  life  ?  It  was  the  dearest 
wish  of  both  Princesses,  that  they  might  be 
allowed  to  consecrate  themselves  to  God  in  the 
religious  life ;  and  it  may  be,  that  sweet  thoughts 
of  the  peaceful  seclusion  of  the  cloister,  came  to 
St  Margaret  as  she  prepared  herself  to  meet  these 
wild  Scots,  of  whose  fierce  doings  she  had 
doubtless  heard  in  her  English  home. 

Scientific  men  think  that  St  Margaret's  Stone 
is  a  fragment  of  a  "dolmen"  or  "cromlech," 
one  of  the  peculiar  stones  used  by  the  Druids  of 
old  in  their  mysterious  rites.  The  Druids  were 
long  gone  when  St  Margaret  came,  but  she  was  to 


THE  LAND  OF  ST  MARGARET     n 

meet  and  combat  some  of  their  superstitions  still. 
They  lingered  long  in  some  parts  of  Scotland, 
dimming  the  radiant  beauty  of  the  Catholic 
faith.  St  Ninian,  and  later,  St  Columba,  with 
his  splendid  army  of  apostles,  had  done  glorious 
work  and  reaped  an  abundant  harvest;  but  the 
inroads  of  the  Danes  had  made  sad  havoc  since 
their  time.  Ruined  monasteries  and  slaughtered 
monks  marked  the  progress  of  the  Northmen 
through  the  country,  for  their  hate  was  fiercest 
and  their  fury  deadliest  where  they  found 
Christianity  flourishing.  Small  wonder,  then, 
that  the  people  were  left  like  sheep  without 
shepherds;  and  that  the  light,  which  had 
gleamed  so  brightly  for  a  space,  was  already 
slowly  fading.  God  was  in  His  Heaven,  never- 
theless, and  it  was  not  His  will  that  Scotland 
should  relapse  into  paganism.  "  After  the  night, 
the  day  returns  "  and  Princess  Margaret,  seated 
by  the  Druids'  Stone  was  the  herald  of  the  dawn. 
The  ferry  across  the  Forth  is  still  the  Queen's 
Ferry  and  the  villages  on  its  banks  are  named 
respectively  North  and  South  Queensferry. 
Thirty  years  ago  the  Queen's  Ferry  was  a  neces- 


n  ST   MARGARET 

sity  and  many  remember  the  broken  journey 
from  Edinburgh  to  Aberdeen,  when  North 
British  passengers  had  to  leave  the  train  for  the 
boat  and  the  boat  for  the  train  in  order  to  cross 
the  Forth.  The  great  Forth  Bridge,  one  of  the 
triumphs  of  modern  engineering  science,  spans 
the  estuary  to-day,  and  the  train  carries  its 
passengers  over  the  water  with  none  of  the 
ancient  delays  and  inconveniences.  The  beauti- 
ful land-locked  bay  formed  here  by  the  waters 
of  the  Forth,  has  for  hundreds  of  years  borne  the 
name  of  St  Margaret's  Hope.  The  lonely, 
gloomy  ruin  on  the  promontory  is  Rosyth  Castle 
where  dwelt  of  old  the  Stuarts  of  Rosyth.  It  has 
many  interesting  historical  associations  but  they 
do  not  reach  as  far  back  as  St  Margaret's  time. 
One  of  her  descendants,  indeed,  another  queen 
beautiful  and  devoted  to  her  faith  as  her  great 
ancestress — poor  unhappy  Mary  Stuart — made 
the  Castle  her  first  resting-place  before  crossing 
the  Forth,  after  her  flight  from  Lochleven. 
To  those  outside  the  "  Kingdom  of  Fife  "  and 
perhaps  not  much  interested  in  the  history  of  the 
Scottish  Queens,  Rosyth  was  an  unknown  name 


THE  LAND  OF  ST  MARGARET      13 

a  few  years  ago.  Things  are  very  different  now, 
for  the  busy  world  is  coming  to  St  Margaret's 
Hope.  The  Government  is  establishing  a  naval 
port  and  base  at  Rosyth,  and  soon  men-of-war 
will  ride  in  the  bay  and  a  garden  city  spring  up 
around  its  margin. 

Somewhere  on  the  shores  of  St  Margaret's 
Hope,  probably  near  the  ancient  castle,  there  is  a 
hallowed  spot — that  on  which  the  Saint's  foot 
rested  for  the  first  time  on  Scottish  soil.  It  was 
a  happy  step — happy  for  Scotland  and  happy  for 
Margaret;  Margaret  was  to  make  Scotland  a 
truly  Christian  country  and  Scotland  was  to 
make  Margaret  a  saint. 


CHAPTER  I 

ST  MARGARET  IN  HUNGARY 

ST  MARGARET  was  born  in  Hungary  about  the 
year  1045.  Her  father,  Edward  the  Stranger, 
was  the  younger  son  of  Edmund  Ironside,  who 
shared  the  dominion  of  England  with  Canute,  the 
Dane.  When  Edmund  was  treacherously  mur- 
dered by  Count  Edric  in  1017,  Canute  assumed 
the  guardianship  of  his  two  sons,  until,  as  he 
said,  they  should  be  old  enough  to  succeed  their 
father.  The  boys  were  sent  to. Sweden,  some  say, 
in  order  that  they  might  quietly  be  despatched  to 
a  better  world,  and  trouble  Danish  rule  in 
England  no  more. 

If  such  was  Canute's  design,  the  Swedish  king 
was  more  humane.  He  was  kind  to  the  fatherless 
children  and  soon  found  some  pretext  for  sending 
them  to  Hungary,  where  he  was  confident  they 


ST  MARGARET  IN   HUNGARY      15 

would  be  protected  by  the  saintly  King  Stephen. 
Nor  was  his  confidence  misplaced  :  the  English 
princes  were  welcomed  at  the  Court  of  Hungary 
as  became  their  rank,  and  educated  as  carefully 
as  if  they  had  been  members  of  the  king's  own 
family.  The  elder  prince  died  before  reaching 
manhood,  but  Edward  was  strong  and  healthy 
and  grew  up  into  a  virtuous,  accomplished  and 
handsome  young  man.  The  king  regarded  him 
with  much  favour  and  willingly  gave  his  consent 
to  his  marriage  with  his  own  queen's  sister,  the 
Princess  Agatha. 

Of  this  marriage,  St  Margaret  was  the  eldest 
child.  Later  another  daughter,  Christina,  was 
born  to  Edward  and  then  a  son,  known  in  English 
history  as  Edgar  Atheling.  Prince  Edgar 
naturally  was  the  hope  of  his  parents  and  the 
centre  of  all  their  ambitions  and  plans  for  the 
future;  and  yet,  it  was  not  he,  but  his  beauti- 
ful elder  sister,  the  Princess  Margaret,  whom 
God  had  destined  to  make  the  family  glorious. 
Margaret's  life  was  to  make  a  mark  on  history 
which  will  endure  for  all  time,  while  Edgar's 
was  to  pass  like  a  shadow;  and  Margaret's 


16  ST    MARGARET 

children,  not  Edgar's,  were  to  sit  on  the  thrones 
of  both  England  and  Scotland. 

Unfortunately,  we  have  few  details  of 
St  Margaret's  childhood  and  the  formation  of  her 
character ;  though  we  can  judge  of  the  sweetness 
of  the  blossom  by  the  fragrance  and  beauty  of  the 
opened  flower.  The  ancestors  of  the  Princess, 
Saxon  and  Bavarian,  had  been  distinguished  for 
sanctity  as  well  as  for  courage  and  wisdom.  The 
blood  of  Alfred  flowed  in  her  veins  and  her 
mother  was  close  in  kinship  to  St  Henry  of 
Bavaria,  while  kings  and  queens  of  both  races 
had  laid  aside  sceptre  and  crown  for  the  lowly  life 
of  monastery  and  convent.  Margaret  came  of  a 
race  of  saints,  no  less  than  a  race  of  kings,  and 
she  was  richly  endowed  with  the  noble  attributes 
characteristic  of  both. 

'  You  have  not  chosen  Me,  but  I  have  chosen 
you "  says  our  Lord,  and  Margaret's  simple 
faith  and  whole-hearted  love  of  God,  showed  from 
her  earliest  years  that  she  was  especially  His 
own;  though  even  her  nearest  and  dearest  never 
dreamt  of  the  great  work  that  she  had  to  do  for 
Him. 


ST  MARGARET  IN  HUNGARY      17 

Nay,  little  maidens  !  We  are  not  forgetting 
that  St  Margaret  had  sinners  as  well  as  saints 
among  her  ancestry ;  nor  are  we  suggesting  that 
she  inherited  only  saintly  qualities,  and  had  no 
difficulties  in  serving  God  so  faithfully.  Like 
every  other  daughter  of  Eve  excepting  Our  Lady 
herself  : — 

"  Our  tainted  nature's  solitary  tioast," 

Princess  Margaret  had  to  fight  against  the 
world,  the  flesh  and  the  devil ;  and  she  was  not 
confirmed  in  grace  either,  but  subject  to  defeat 
and  failure  even  as  we  are.  True,  she  was  a  born 
queen,  a  leader  and  ruler  by  nature,  with  all  the 
power  and  decision  and  acceptance  of  respon- 
sibility that  marks  the  great  mind,  but  characters 
such  as  hers  have  weaknesses  as  well  as  strong 
points.  If  St  Margaret  shows  none  of  these 
weaknesses,  but  goes  on  from  day  to  day  and 
year  to  year,  growing  in  every  womanly  and 
queenly  virtue,  neither  unduly  elated  by  pros- 
perity nor  depressed  by  adversity,  it  does  not 
prove  that  she  had  no  battles  to  fight;  it  rather 
shows  that  she  had  learnt  early  to  fight  so  silently 


i8  ST    MARGARET 

and  to  triumph  so  entirely  that  those  around 
should  be  unaware  of  the  warfare.  We  are  all 
possible  saints  but  only  those  attain  to  sanctity 
who  correspond  with  God's  graces,  and  this  is 
what  St  Margaret  did  so  faithfully  and  so  well. 

"  Sow  an  act,  reap  a  habit; 
Sow  a  habit,  reap  a  character; 
Sow  a  character,  reap  a  destiny." 

This  is  the  process  for  saint  and  sinner  alike. 

The  court  of  Hungary  in  the  eleventh  century 
was  a  model  of  what  a  Christian  court  should  be 
and  the  young  princess  was  fortunate  in  her 
environment.  The  Princess  Agatha  was  a  wise 
and  good  mother  and  took  care  that  her  children 
should  be  brought  up  in  innocence  and 
simplicity.  There  must  have  been  many 
occasions,  too,  for  the  practice  of  humility  and 
the  exercise  of  self-forgetfulness  and  self-control. 
These  are  not  things  that  can  be  learnt  in  a  day ; 
and  the  saint  and  queen  we  know  and  love  in  her 
riper  years,  would  never  have  been  such  a  perfect 
mistress  of  them,  but  for  the  early  lessons  of  the 
little  royal  maiden  in  Hungary,  long  years 
before. 


ST  MARGARET  IN  HUNGARY     19 

When  we  consider  Prince  Edward's  position 
and  circumstances,  it  is  easy  enough  to  realise 
how  St  Margaret  learnt  so  soon  that  God's 
Kingdom  is  the  only  enduring  one  and  that  as 
with  her  dying  lips  she  reminded  her  children 
"  worldly  prosperity  and  glory  are  but  momen- 
tary." He  was  an  exile  banished  from  home  and 
kindred  and  entirely  dependent  on  the  bounty  of 
strangers — kind  and  tactful  bounty,  though  it 
was.  The  very  name  given  to  him  by  the 
Hungarians — Edward  the  Stranger — shows  that 
he  was  a  man  apart,  somewhat  in  the  background 
among  the  proud  and  wealthy  nobles  of  the 
country.  His  life  was  shadowed  by  his  early 
wrongs,  and  his  spirit  crushed  by  his  powerless- 
ness  to  help  himself;  so  that  he  lacked  the 
self-confidence  of  others,  who,  though  not  his 
equals  in  birth,  had  the  sure  inheritance  which 
he  had  not. 

Princess  Margaret  learnt  to  read  and  write  and 
to  do  wonderful  things  with  her  needle,  while  she 
lived  at  the  Hungarian  court,  and  perhaps  she 
learnt  other  things,  too — lessons  lightly  given  by 
the  thoughtless,  but  bitter  and  painful  for  the 


20  ST    MARGARET 

learner.  A  gifted  child  like  Margaret,  with  her 
keen  sensitive  intelligence,  could  scarcely  have 
attained  the  age  of  twelve  years  without  noticing 
the  peculiarities  of  the  position  of  her  family  and 
suffering  from  them.  No  doubt  she  had  childish 
battles  to  fight  and  childish  puzzles  to  solve  with 
results  that  left  a  lasting  impression  on  her  mind. 
Sorrows  and  trials  expand  large  hearts,  so  she 
looked  around  on  her  little  world  with  ever 
widening  sympathies  and  forgot  herself  in  trying 
to  make  others  happier. 

It  is  a  pity  that  we  know  so  little  of 
St  Margaret's  early  years  for  it  would  be 
interesting  to  trace  in  detail,  in  the  child,  the 
high  principles  which  ruled  and  ennobled  the  life 
of  the  woman  and  queen. 


CHAPTER  II 

ST  MARGARET  IN  ENGLAND 

RETRIBUTION  has  seldom  followed  so  closely  on 
crime  as  when,  in  the  eleventh  century,  the 
Danes  revenged  the  Massacre  of  St  Brice's  Day, 
by  the  conquest  of  England.  Ethelred  the 
Unready,  had  acted  in  accordance  with  his  name 
until  his  foreign  neighbours  in  the  Danelagh  had 
grown  too  powerful  for  his  liking,  and  then, 
yielding  to  unworthy  counsellors,  he  committed 
the  folly  and  crime  that  disgraced  his  name  and 
brought  ruin  on  his  family.  Sweyn  of  Norway, 
wild  with  anger  and  grief,  for  his  favourite  sister, 
Gunhilda,  was  among  the  slain,  came  down  like  a 
whirlwind  on  England  and  only  left  it  when  it 
was  crushed  and  beaten.  Poor  Sweyn,  dying  of 
his  grief,  gave  the  fruits  of  victory  to  Canute  his 
son;  and  so  for  over  twenty  years  England  was 
ruled  by  Danish  kings. 

21 


22  ST    MARGARET 

Hardicanute,  the  third  of  England's  Danish 
rulers,  died  childless  in  1042 ;  and  the 
Norwegians,  engaged  in  warfare  elsewhere,  found 
themselves  unprepared  for  such  an  emergency. 
The  English,  as  they  now  called  themselves, 
rejoiced  at  the  golden  opportunity  of  restoring 
the  Saxon  dynasty  and  gave  the  crown  to 
Edward,  son  of  Ethelred  the  Unready,  after- 
wards known  as  Edward  the  Confessor.  This 
Edward  had  been  an  exile,  like  his  kinsman  and 
namesake,  while  the  Danes  ruled  in  England. 
Brought  up  by  strangers  in  Normandy,  as  the 
other  Edward  had  been  in  Hungary,  and,  like 
him,  deprived  unjustly  of  the  inheritance  of  an 
earthly  kingdom,  he  had  thought  the  more  of 
striving  to  win  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Noted 
for  the  sanctity  of  his  life  as  a  prince,  he  became 
still  more  holy  as  a  king,  and  his  palace  was  like 
a  monastery  rather  than  a  court,  so  regular  was 
the  life  of  its  inmates. 

Edward  would  not  be  alone  in  prosperity,  any 
more  than  he  had  been  in  adversity,  and  so,  when 
he  found  himself  securely  settled  on  the  English 
throne,  he  sent  ambassadors  to  Hungary, 


ST  MARGARET  IN  ENGLAND      23 

graciously  inviting  Edward  the  Stranger  and  his 
family  to  come  and  make  their  home  in  England. 
It  was  a  great  event  for  the  family  of 
St  Margaret.  England  was  home,  in  spite  of  the 
fact  that  only  Prince  Edward  himself  had  ever 
been  there  and  that  even  he  had  scarce  a  recol- 
lection of  his  native  land.  They  would  be 
strangers  no  longer — dependent  on  strangers  no 
longer,  for  Edward  was  the  acknowledged  heir  to 
the  English  throne.  Henceforward,  he  would  be 
Edward  the  Atheling,  next  in  importance  in 
England  to  Edward  the  Confessor  himself;  and 
when  that  king  should  lay  down  the  sceptre  he 
would  be  King  of  England. 

The  Princess  Agatha  was  a  queenly  woman 
with  a  queenly  estimate  of  royal  dignities  and 
privileges ;  and  no  doubt  she  rejoiced  at  the  turn 
events  had  taken  and  looked  forward  to  a  happy 
and  splendid  life.  And  so,  with  the  good  wishes 
of  their  many  friends  in  Hungary  and  laden  with 
valuable  gifts  from  the  King  and  Queen,  Prince 
Edward  and  his  family  came  to  England. 
Princess  Margaret  was  about  twelve  years  old  at 
this  time — a  beautiful  child  with  a  powerful 


24  ST    MARGARET 

intellect,  pious  and  thoughtful  and  serious 
beyond  her  years ;  though  with  a  well-spring  of 
quiet  happiness  in  her  heart  that  made  her  a 
delight  to  all  with  whom  she  came  in  contact. 

In  those  days  children  could  scarcely  be 
childish.  They  were  strictly  kept  in  the  back- 
ground, and  had  to  be  respectful  and  decorous  in 
the  presence  of  their  elders.  Self-control, 
perfect  submission  and  prompt  obedience  were 
required  of  them  whether  they  were  princesses  or 
maidens  of  low  degree ;  and  they  were  not  allowed 
to  express  their  opinions  and  decide  things  for 
themselves  as  freely  as  many  little  people  do 
nowadays.  This  repression  was  sometimes 
severe;  and  natural  vivacity  and  spontaneity 
suffered  perhaps  in  some  cases.  It  was  not  so 
with  Princess  Margaret,  for  she  had  a  prudent 
mother  and  prudent  mothers  know  what  is  best 
for  their  own  little  girls,  no  matter  what  the 
customs  of  the  age  may  be. 

Life  at  the  English  Court  was  probably  much 
the  same  to  St  Margaret  as  life  in  Hungary  had 
been,  with  the  difference  that  she  was  a  person  of 
much  greater  importance,  being  close  in  kinship 


ST  MARGARET  IN  ENGLAND      25 

to  the  king.  In  both  courts  the  Princess  had 
examples  of  high  virtue  going  hand  in  hand  with 
high  birth.  Possibly  Edward's  was  the  more 
austere,  but  custom  would  have  made  the  life  of 
the  royal  maidens  secluded  in  any  case.  Other 
young  girls  of  noble  birth  were  brought  up  with 
the  princesses,  and  shared  their  studies  and 
pastimes.  They  lived  by  rule  under  the  some- 
what strict  supervision  of  the  ' '  Mistress  of  the 
Maidens,"  and  were  taught  to  conduct  them- 
selves with  a  dignity  befitting  their  high 
station. 

The  day  began  with  the  household  Mass,  and 
there  were  other  devotions  in  common  in  the 
course  of  the  day.  There  were  hours  of  study, 
too,  and  plenty  of  needlework  and  embroidery, 
with  recreation  at  allotted  times.  It  was  a  simple 
life  but  full  of  happiness  and  innocent  mirth. 
The  maidens  had  little  society ;  for  the  court  of 
Edward  with  its  piety  and  unworldly  atmosphere 
was  not  a  gay  one ;  and,  of  course,  they  had  few 
books,  for  printing  was  then  an  unknown  art, 
and  every  copy  of  a  book  had  to  be  laboriously 
transcribed  by  hand. 


26  ST    MARGARET 

There  were  plenty  of  manuscripts  for  study, 
however,  and  copies  of  the  sacred  writings  in 
sufficient  number;  and  many  of  the  maidens 
attained  to  considerable  skill  in  music. 
Minstrels  were  sometimes  admitted  to  the  ladies' 
bower,  to  entertain  them  while  they  worked,  with 
lays  of  love  or  chivalry. 

"  For  still  the  burden  of  his  minstrelsy 
Was  knighthood's  dauntless  deed 
And  beauty's  matchless  eye." 

The  days  were  busy  ones,  for  idleness  was 
accounted  a  snare  of  the  enemy,  and  so  each  hour 
had  its  appointed  occupation — prayer,  work, 
play  or  sleep. 

Princess  Margaret  had  brilliant  intellectual 
powers,  and  ample  opportunities  were  given  her 
for  developing  them,  so  that  while  yet  a  mere  girl 
she  was  remarkable  for  her  learning.  The 
chaplains  of  Edward  the  Confessor  were  highly 
cultured  and  pious  men  and  Margaret  found 
among  them  able  tutors  as  well  as  spiritual 
directors.  She  studied  Latin  and  French  and 
was  also  instructed  in  scripture  and  religious 
knowledge.  Her  judgment  was  sound  and 


ST  MARGARET  IN  ENGLAND      27 

accurate  and  her  mind  had  a  deep  spiritual  bent, 
which  made  sacred  studies  peculiarly  fascinating 
to  her.  She  could  reason,  too,  and  though  her 
logic  often  bespoke  her  sex,  and  made  her 
usually  grave  preceptors  smile,  her  conclusions 
were  always  right.  She  had  the  knack  of  reach- 
ing the  goal  at  once  by  a  direct  route  of  her  own, 
while  others  were  laboriously  following  the 
windings  of  the  ordinary  road  and  sometimes 
losing  their  way  by  taking  a  wrong  turning. 
There  was  no  danger  of  wrong  turnings  for 
Princess  Margaret,  with  her  simple,  humble 
faith,  and  so  she  went  on  storing  her  mind  with 
the  treasures  of  sacred  lore,  and  unconsciously 
preparing  herself  for  her  future  mission. 

Young  as  she  was,  she  had  long  ago  given  the 
great  deep  love  of  her  heart  to  God  alone  and  His 
will  was  the  rule  of  her  life  in  little  things  as  in 
great.  Worldly  glory  had  no  charms  for  her. 
She  had  seen  for  herself  how  uncertain  and 
unstable  it  can  be  and  had  learnt  to  value  it 
accordingly.  She  would  dream  of  perfect  love 
and  bliss  as  the  songs  of  the  minstrels  taught  her 
to  do,  but  she  would  look  for  it  beyond  this  world 


28  ST    MARGARET 

where  death,  and  disappointment,  and  the  fickle 
wills  of  men,  work  such  havoc  with  happiness. 

Edward  the  Stranger  was  not  the  first  prince 
to  whom  Edward  the  Confessor  had  shown 
hospitality.  When  Malcolm,  the  son  of  Duncan, 
King  of  Scotland,  was  driven  from  his  own  land 
by  the  murder  of  his  father  and  the  usurpation  of 
Macbeth,  he  sought  and  found  refuge  and  help 
at  the  English  court.  It  was  this  very  year 
when  St  Margaret's  family  came  from  Hungary, 
that  Malcolm  set  out  for  Scotland  with  English 
troops  behind  him  to  win  back  his  own.  The 
English  king  had  given  him  generous  assistance 
and  he  made  good  use  of  it;  Macbeth  was  killed 
at  Dunsinane  and  Malcolm  Canmore  was  crowned 
King  of  Scotland  at  Scone. 

One  chronicler  tells  that  it  was  at  this  time  that 
Princess  Margaret  was  betrothed  to  Malcolm  and 
that  the  promise  of  her  hand  was  given  by 
Edward  the  Confessor  himself,  but  this  seems 
very  improbable  from  the  age  of  the  princess  and 
still  more  so  from  the  fact  that  Canmore,  return- 
ing to  his  own  land,  married  Ingibiorg  of  Sweden, 
widow  of  Earl  Thorfinn.  He  was  a  widower, 


ST  MARGARET  IN  ENGLAND      29 

with  a  stalwart  son  when,  fourteen  years  later, 
the  Saxon  royal  family  sought  his  hospitality, 
and  possibly  this  was  the  occasion  of  his  first 
seeing  the  Princess  Margaret. 

Poor  Princess  Agatha  !  If  she  was  ambitious, 
as  is  hinted  by  historians,  her  high  hopes  were 
short-lived.  Prince  Edward,  her  husband,  after 
only  three  days  in  his  native  land,  fell  ill  and 
died  and  when  she  laid  him  to  rest  in  St  Paul's 
Church  she  buried  with  him  her  dreams  of  future 
greatness.  True,  she  had  a  son ;  as  far  as 
hereditary  rights  were  concerned,  Prince  Edgar 
was  now  the  heir  to  the  English  throne ;  but  then, 
neither  the  King  nor  the  Saxon  nobles  looked 
favourably  on  the  boy.  He  was  a  delicate  youth 
— weak  in  intellect  and  character  as  well  as  in 
body  and  all  unfitted  by  nature  to  be  the  ruler  of 
a  country  like  the  England  of  those  days — not 
long  emerged  from  barbarism  and  composed  of 
men  of  many  races,  still  in  the  process  of  being 
welded  into  one  nation.  Princess  Agatha  took 
her  place  at  court  indeed,  and  her  son  assumed 
the  title  of  Atheling,  but  Edward  the  Confessor 
looked  across  the  Channel  to  the  friends  of  his 


30  ST    MARGARET 

boyhood  and  dreamed  of  a  Norman  successor; 
while  the  strong  men  of  England  rallied  round 
the  Saxon  Harold  Godwin,  as  the  worthiest  and 
most  capable  among  themselves.  He  was  not  of 
royal  blood  ?  No  !  But  hereditary  claims  were 
not  of  such  vital  importance  as  they  are  now ;  and 
history  affords  many  instances  of  the  young  and 
weak  being  set  aside  in  spite  of  descent,  in  order 
that  older  or  stronger  men  might  govern. 

The  years  flew  past,  but  with  their  flight 
Prince  Edgar's  chances  of  succession  grew  more 
and  more  feeble  while  his  mother's  anxieties  on 
his  behalf  became  accordingly  more  keen.  The 
situation  in  England  was  watched  with  interest 
by  Harold  Hardrada  of  Norway,  who  considered 
England  his  own,  by  right  of  inheritance  from 
Hardicanute,  and  as  Edward's  life  drew  near  its 
close,  England  was  filled  with  rumours  of  war- 
like intentions  on  the  part  of  both  Norway  and 
Normandy.  A  strong  man  in  every  sense  of  the 
word  was  needed  as  a  successor  to  King  Edward 
and  poor  Edgar  Atheling  was  not  strong  in  any 
sense. 

Princess  Margaret  was  growing  into  woman- 


ST  MARGARET  IN  ENGLAND      31 

hood  as  her  kinsman,  the  Confessor,  worn  out  by 
austerities  and  the  worry  of  State  quarrels,  which 
his  peaceful  soul  abhorred,  slowly  sank  into  the 
grave. 

It  was  her  duty  and  privilege  to  share  her 
mother's  anxieties  and  to  lighten  them  by  her 
counsel  and  sympathy  and  so  her  mind  and  heart 
were  all  the  time  being  trained  for  the  sphere  of 
greater  guiding  power  and  wider  sympathies 
which  was  to  be  hers.  Tall  and  stately  and  with 
the  bearing  of  a  queen,  Princess  Margaret  was 
beautiful  in  face  and  form.  She  had  the  won- 
derful fairness  that  made  St  Gregory  the  Great 
say  of  the  children  of  her  country,  that  they  were 
' '  Angels  not  Angles  ' ;  and  her  blue  eyes 
reflected  the  selflessness  and  sweet  serenity  of 
her  innocent  soul.  Princess  Christina  and  she, 
had  both  leanings  towards  a  life  in  the  cloister; 
but,  in  the  meantime,  they  waited  until  God's 
will  in  the  matter  should  become  more  clear. 
The  time  was  at  hand  when  it  was  to  be  mani- 
fested for  Princess  Margaret  at  least,  in  no 
uncertain  manner. 


CHAPTER  III 

ST  MARGARET  IN  SCOTLAND 

EDWARD  the  Confessor  died  in  1066  and  only  a 
very  few — the  most  enthusiastic  lovers  of  the 
Saxon  dynasty — thought  of  Edgar  Atheling  as 
his  successor. 

Harold  Godwin  was  declared  king  by  the 
Witan,  and  Prince  Edgar's  claims  were  set  aside 
indefinitely;  for  the  atmosphere  was  thick  with 
rumours  of  war.  Harold  Hardrada,  King  of 
Norway,  had  landed  in  the  north  with  an  army, 
to  claim  the  crown  as  the  heir  of  Hardicanute ; 
and  Tostig  Godwin,  jealous  of  his  brother's 
elevation  to  the  throne  had  joined  the  enemy 
with  a  body  of  English  malcontents.  Meanwhile, 
reports  came,  fast  following  each  other,  of  war- 
like activity  in  Normandy,  where  Duke  William 
was  raising  a  great  army  to  invade  England  on 
the  south. 


ST  MARGARET  IN  SCOTLAND   33 

The  Duke  urged  as  his  claim  that  Edward  the 
Confessor  had  promised  him  the  crown,  ignoring 
the  somewhat  important  detail  that  the  same 
crown,  or  the  kingdom  which  it  represented,  was 
not  a  personal  possession  to  be  bequeathed  by  one 
man  to  another.  The  crown  was  at  the  disposal 
of  the  people,  not  of  the  dying  king,  but  Duke 
William  preferred  to  think  otherwise  and  loudly 
declared  that  he  was  going  to  England  to  take 
what  was  already  his  own.  Harold  Godwin, 
according  to  the  Duke  of  Normandy,  was  no  king 
but  a  perjurer  and  a  traitor,  who  had  sworn 
solemnly  on  the  relics  of  the  saints  to  uphold 
the  Norman  claims  to  England  and  had  broken 
his  oath. 

Whether  Edward  the  Confessor  made  the 
promise  attributed  to  him  is  uncertain ;  but  we 
know  very  well  that  he  loved  French  people  and 
French  ways  and  after  Edward  the  Atheling's 
death,  had  inclined  to  Norman  William  as  his 
successor.  But  Harold  Godwin !  English 
Harold  !  with  no  French  sympathies  whatever  ! 
Is  it  possible  that  he  could  have  sworn  to  help  the 
stranger  to  sit  on  the  throne  of  England? 


34  ST    MARGARET 

Improbable  as  it  sounds  Harold  had  so  sworn  but 
the  oath  was  an  unwilling  one  and  taken  under 
rather  remarkable  circumstances. 

It  happened  in  the  Confessor's  lifetime. 
Harold  was  cruising  in  the  English  Channel  and 
during  a  sudden  storm  his  vessel  was  driven  on 
the  rocks  and  wrecked  off  the  coast  of  Normandy. 
Now,  according  to  feudal  usage,  a  wreck  became 
the  property  of  the  lord  of  the  domain  on  whose 
shores  the  vessel  was  stranded,  and  though  there 
were  saving  clauses  to  safeguard  the  rights  of  the 
owners  when  there  were  survivors,  such  clauses 
were  often  disregarded.  Harold  was  promptly 
conducted  to  the  castle  of  one  of  the  vassals  of 
William  of  Normandy,  where  he  was  virtually  a 
prisoner;  and  the  wily  Duke  determined  to  use 
the  mishap  of  this  powerful  English  noble  for  his 
own  advantage.  Harold  was  treated  with  every 
courtesy  until  at  length  he  spoke  of  returning  to 
England  and  then  he  got  an  unpleasant  surprise. 
Duke  William  showed  him  the  opening  of  a 
terrible  dungeon  below  the  level  of  the  sea  and 
gave  him  a  choice.  He  must  swear  on  the  relics 
of  the  saints  to  help  the  Norman  to  make  himself 


ST  MARGARET  IN  SCOTLAND   35 

king  of  England  at  the  Confessor's  death  or  be 
consigned  to  this  living  grave  for  the  rest  of  his 
life.  There  was  no  help,  for  none  in  England 
would  ever  know  but  that  he  had  perished  by 
shipwreck.  Poor  Harold !  there  would  have 
been  no  glory  even  in  death. 

Harold  refused  the  dungeon,  took  the  oath, 
and  returned  to  England,  but,  once  safe  at  home, 
he  decided  easily  enough  that  an  oath  forced  from 
him  under  a  threat  so  terrible  was  not  binding 
and  when  the  Witan  offered  him  the  crown  he 
accepted  it  without  scruple.  William  did  not  fail 
to  remind  him  of  his  oath  but  Harold  answered 
only  by  defiance. 

And  now  this  king  of  a  month  had  to  defend 
his  country  against  two  sets  of  enemies  at  once. 
It  seems  a  strange  thing  to  us,  but  the  Normans 
were  scarcely  taken  seriously.  It  would  be  easy 
to  deal  with  the  French,  said  public  opinion,  if 
once  the  northern  foes  were  vanquished. 

To  the  north  then  went  Harold  with  his  brave 
Englishmen  behind  him  and  at  Stamford  Bridge 
the  Norwegians  were  utterly  routed.  Tostig 
Godwin  thus  brought  to  his  knees,  humbly  asked 


36  ST    MARGARET 

his  brother's  forgiveness  for  his  unnatural 
conduct  and  it  is  to  Harold's  credit  that  this — 
one  of  his  last  acts — was  merciful  and  generous ; 
he  readily  forgave  the  rebel  and  loaded  him  with 
favours. 

Exultant  over  their  victory,  the  English  nobles 
marched  southward  with  high  hopes.  They 
would  crush  the  ambitious  Norman  at  a  blow  and 
all  England  would  shout  with  joy  over  a  double 
triumph.  Harold  alone  had  presentiments  of 
evil.  He  knew  better  than  any  the  strength  and 
determination  of  the  Norman  and  so  he  realised 
to  a  fuller  extent,  the  magnitude  of  the  task  that 
lay  before  him. 

The  battle  was  fought  at  Hastings  and  all  the 
world  knows  its  issue.  Harold  was  defeated  and 
slain  and  Norman  William  became  William  the 
Conqueror  and  King  of  England.  So  complete 
was  the  conquest  that  when  William  was  crowned 
in  Westminster  Abbey,  within  the  year  and  with 
the  consent  of  the  Witan,  most  of  the  surviving 
English  nobles  attended  the  ceremony  and 
among  them  was  Edgar  Atheling. 

Probably  the  Princess  Agatha  hoped  foi  a  time 


ST  MARGARET  IN  SCOTLAND   37 

that  her  family  might  still  make  a  permanent 
home  in  England.  There  were  brave  men  who 
were  making  a  bold  stand  for  her  son  as  the 
representative  of  the  ancient  race  of  kings,  and 
the  Normans  were  not  yet  sure  of  their  ground ; 
besides,  surely,  at  the  worst,  the  Conqueror  would 
be  gracious  and  generous  to  the  Saxon  royal 
family  who  had  lost  all  that  he  had  gained. 
Whatever  hopes  the  Princess  had  were  vain. 
News  came  that  the  Conqueror  was  already 
arranging  about  the  disposal  of  her  property  and 
the  marriage  of  her  daughters  with  Norman 
nobles ;  and  she  saw  no  way  of  escape  from 
tyranny  and  injustice  except  night. 

The  ancient  tradition  represents  the  Princess 
as  deciding  to  return  to  Hungary  with  her 
children,  but  modern  writers  say  that  her  des- 
tination was  Scotland  and  the  court  of  Malcolm 
Canmore.  Some  go  so  far  as  to  assert  that  she 
came  by  invitation,  Malcolm  having  met  Edgar 
Atheling  in  the  North  of  England  during  the 
war  of  the  previous  months.  It  was  evident  in 
any  case  that  Prince  Edgar  had  given  up,  for  the 
present  at  least,  all  hopes  of  ousting  the 


38  ST    MARGARET 

Conqueror  and  whatever  ending  the  Princess 
Agatha  designed  for  her  travels  she  left  England 
with  her  three  children  in  the  autumn  of  1069. 

In  time,  for  even  a  coasting  voyage  was  a  slow 
and  tedious  business  eight  centuries  ago,  the 
English  vessel  reached  the  shores  of  Scotland  and 
then  came  a  violent  storm. 

Those  who  have  dwelt  on  the  banks  of  the 
Forth  can  well  imagine  the  plight  of  the 
strangers  : — 

"  The  black'ning  waves  are  edged  with  white, 

To  inch  and  rock  the  sea-mews  fly; 
The  fishers  have  heard  the  water-sprite, 
Whose  screams  forbode  that  wreck  is  nigh." 

Thus  Sir  Walter  Scott  describes  the  coming 
storm  on  these  very  waters  and  though  ordinary 
folks  must  disclaim  the  water-sprite,  they  cannot 
but  own  that  the  sights  and  sounds  are  weird 
enough  to  suggest  it.  Dark  clouds  leap  out  of 
nowhere  and  spread  rapidly  over  the  sky  while  a 
grey  mist  creeps  eerily  up  from  the  sea  to  meet 
them.  The  distant  hills,  the  green  stretches  of 
shore,  the  headlands,  even  the  islands  are 
gradually  enveloped  in  its  clammy  folds  and  poor 


[To  face  page  39. 


ST  MARGARET  IN  SCOTLAND      39 

voyagers  feel  themselves  "  alone  on  a  wide,  wide 
sea."  Then  come  wild  gusts  of  wind  and  dashing 
rains  and  the  vessel  is  driven  this  way  and  that 
till  destruction  seems  inevitable. 

How  the  English  ship  came  into  the  Firth—- 
whether by  accident  or  design — matters  little, 
It  encountered  the  storm  there,  and,  as  the  last 
gusts  were  dying  away,  took  shelter,  con- 
siderably the  worse  for  its  fight  with  winds  and 
waves,  in  the  bay  that  is  now  called  St  Margaret's 
Hope.  The  exiles,  no  doubt  glad  enough  to  leave 
the  stormy  waters,  landed  as  soon  as  possible  on 
the  shores  of  the  bay,  probably  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  promontory  on  which  now  stands  the  dreary 
ruin  of  Rosyth  Castle. 

To  Malcolm  Canmore  in  Dunfermline  Tower, 
came  the  news  of  the  English  ship  battling  with 
the  waves  and  later  of  the  distinguished  strangers 
landing  on  his  soil  and  craving  his  hospitality. 
The  chroniclers  assure  us  that  the  messengers 
gave  the  Princess  Margaret  special  mention, 
telling  the  King  that  she  was  tall  and  fair  and 
praising  "  her  incomparable  beauty  and  the 
pleasantness  of  her  jocund  speech."  It  may  be 


40  ST    MARGARET 

indeed  that,  writing  in  the  light  of  after  events, 
they  were  unconsciously  biased  by  devotion  to 
her  who  had  by  that  time  become  their  own 
Queen  and  Saint,  for  Princess  Margaret  was  of 
minor  importance  among  the  little  group  of 
exiles.  Her  mother,  the  Princess  Agatha, 
naturally  took  the  lead  and  her  brother  Prince 
Edgar  was  considered  the  rightful  King  of 
England  and  esteemed  accordingly. 

And  yet,  it  was  Margaret  whose  name  and  story 
were  to  make  Fife  interesting  to  all  succeeding 
generations,  while  her  seemingly  more  important 
relatives  were  to  live  in  Scottish  history  only  for 
her  sake  and  in  as  far  as  they  were  connected  with 
her.  If  it  was  a  seeming  accident  that  sent  the 
English  ship  to  Rosyth,  it  was  certainly  God's 
design — one  of  those  apparent  chances  fraught 
with  mighty  consequences,  which  are  in  reality 
simple  effects  of  His  Providence. 

Malcolm's  "wisest  counsellors'1  says  the 
chronicle,  were  at  once  despatched  to  the  shores 
of  the  Forth  to  greet  the  strangers,  bidding  them 
welcome  to  Scotland  in  the  King's  name  and 
inviting  them  to  Dunfermline.  The  King,  him- 


ST  MARGARET  IN  SCOTLAND   41 

self,  the  visitors  were  assured,  was  already  on  his 
way  to  meet  them,  that  he  might  in  person 
conduct  them  to  his  home. 

Had  Malcolm  any  misgivings  as  he  made  his 
preparations?  He  had  lived  at  the  court  of 
Edward  the  Confessor  and  so  he  knew  the 
differences  between  it  and  his  own  primitive 
palace.  Nature  indeed  had  done  its  best  for  his 
dwelling  for  he  had  had  regard  to  beauty  as  well 
as  strength  of  position  in  choosing  its  site. 
"  That  place,"  says  Fordun,  "  was  naturally 
well  defended,  being  surrounded  by  a  very  thick 
wood  and  fenced  by  precipitous  rocks  in  the 
middle  of  which  was  a  pleasant  level  ground  also 
strengthened  by  rock  and  water." 

Beauty  of  position  is  not  everything,  however, 
and  the  Tower  was  a  humble,  lowly  dwelling  and 
all  unlike  a  royal  palace.  Did  Malcolm  wish  as 
he  looked  at  its  bare  unsightly  walls  that  he 
had  thought  somewhat  more  of  state  and 
elegance  ? 

Canmore  was  the  first  king  of  a  consolidated 
Scotland  and  the  country  was  semi-barbarian 
still.  The  King  and  his  rough  nobles  lived  like 


42  ST    MARGARET 

their  wild  ancestors,  almost  entirely  in  the  open 
air,  war  and  the  chase  being  at  once  their  business 
and  pastime.  Houses  were  useful  to  them  as 
affording  shelter  but  they  were  certainly  not 
ornamental,  either  without  or  within.  Malcolm 
was  a  soldier  well  used  to  hardships  and  dis- 
comfort and  so  when  he  came  back  from  the 
elegance  of  royal  life  in  England,  he  did  not  seek 
to  imitate  it  in  his  own  land.  He  could  fight 
battles  better  than  furnish  rooms,  and  though  he 
knew  how  to  appreciate  order  and  beauty  of 
arrangement,  he  was  powerless  to  produce  it. 
He  was  able  to  live  without  it  too.  He  could 
maintain  his  power  and  extend  it,  by  strength  of 
intellect  and  the  might  of  his  brawny  arm  and  so 
far  he  had  been  content  enough  with  what  life 
had  given  him. 

He  was  not  so  narrow-minded  as  to  pretend  to 
despise  the  graces  of  civilisation  because  they 
were  wanting  in  his  own  land,  however; 
ignorance  was  his  chief  fault  and  that  is  a  trifle 
when  people  are  ready  and  willing  to  learn. 
Malcolm  was  both,  and  lo  !  as  he  strode  down  the 
hill  from  Dunfermline  Tower  a  fair  teacher 


ST  MARGARET  IN  SCOTLAND   43 

awaited      him     by     the     Druids'      Stone      at 
Pitreavie. 

It  was  in  October  that  Princess  Margaret  came 
to  Dunfermline.  Probably  when  the  storm  had 
subsided  and  the  winds  were  still,  her  first 
glimpse  of  Scotland  was  an  agreeable  surprise, 
for  the  woods  are  loveliest  in  autumn  with  all 
their  wonderful  variety  of  colouring ;  every  shade 
of  green  and  brown  and  red  and  gold  inter- 
mingling in  richest  harmony.  The  Saxon 
Princess  loved  beauty  of  every  kind,  and  perhaps 
the  scenery  as  much  as  her  own  fatigue  was  the 
reason  for  the  midway  rest  which  has  made  the 
big  stone  famous  for  all  time.  The  silver  streak 
of  the  Forth  lay  at  her  feet,  far  down  the  green 
hill,  with  the  islet  of  Inchgarvie,  unburdened 
then  with  the  support  of  the  giant  bridge  of 
modern  times ;  and  across  the  sparkling  waters  in 
the  distance  could  be  seen  the  great  rock  of 
Edinburgh  rising  from  radiant  woods  and 
crowned  by  the  Maidens'  Castle  while  more 
green  hills  met  the  sky  as  a  background.  It  was 
fitting  that  Princess  Margaret  should  look  well  at 
this  land  in  all  its  wild  beauty,  for  she  had  come, 


44  ST    MARGARET 

though  she  knew  it  not,  to  set  in  motion  forces 
that  would  work  a  mighty  change  in  the  ages  to 
come. 

Autumn  beauty  is  short-lived  and  winter  is 
bleak  and  bitter  in  Scotland,  even  in  our  days  of 
warm  well-built  houses,  with  heating  and 
lighting  apparatus  almost  perfect.  There  was 
little  comfort  in  Malcolm's  Tower  at  any  season ; 
but  winter  must  have  been  dreary  in  the  extreme, 
and  Princess  Margaret  with  her  southern  ideas 
cannot  have  found  her  first  months  in  the  north 
very  enjoyable.  There  was  no  elegant  tapestry 
in  the  Tower  to  cover  unsightly  walls,  no  delicate 
curtains  and  hangings  of  costly  silk  in  hall  or 
bower  or  bed-chamber  and  no  dainty  vessels  of 
silver  and  gold  on  the  dinner-table.  Many  of  the 
simple  workers  in  Dunfermline's  mills  to-day 
have  more  comfortable  bedrooms  and  better  laid 
tables  than  the  Saxon  Princess  found  in  the 
dwelling  of  this  eleventh  century  Scottish  king. 

It  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  evidences  of 
Margaret's  perfect  selflessness,  that  she  showed 
no  sign  of  being  ill  at  ease  among  her  rude 
surroundings.  Malcolm  had  all  the  sensitive 


ST  MARGARET  IN  SCOTLAND      45 

pride  of  his  race  and  if  the  beautiful  princess 
had  appeared  unhappy  or  out  of  her  element  in 
his  rough  home,  he  would  never  have  asked  her 
to  make  it  her  own.  That  was  not  Margaret's 
way,  however.  She  was  no  helpless  maiden  to 
languish  because  of  untoward  circumstances,  or 
waste  her  time  in  self-pity.  Difficulties  showed 
her  at  her  best  because  she  always  stood  up  to 
meet  and  master  them.  Perhaps  she  gloried,  as 
saints  often  do,  in  her  privations ;  more  probably 
she  never  thought  of  self  at  all.  There  were 
others  to  be  cared  for  and  made  happy,  and 
Margaret  had  learnt  from  her  infancy  to  think 
of  self  last. 

She  came  like  an  angel  of  light  into  Malcolm's 
dull  home  and  everything  she  touched  was  made 
beautiful.  Her  tact  and  womanly  helpfulness 
smoothed  away  difficulties  and  brought  order  out 
of  chaos ;  and  while  she  gradually  brought  the 
whole  household  under  her  gentle  sway,  her 
winning  ways  and  ' '  jocund  speech ' '  made 
everybody  love  her  and  seek  to  do  her  will. 

The  master  of  the  Tower  was  not  an  exception. 
There  was  no  winter  that  year  for  Malcolm 


46  ST    MARGARET 

Canmore ;  the  sun  was  shining  all  the  time  in  his 
heart  and  home. 

We  know  few  of  the  circumstances  of  the 
engagement  between  the  Celtic  king  and  the 
Saxon  princess,  romantic  as  they  seem  to  have 
been.  The  first  thought  of  it  comes  with  some- 
thing like  a  shock,  so  unsuitable  does  it  appear. 
It  is  easy  enough  indeed  to  understand  Malcolm's 
love  for  Margaret.  She  was  a  royal  maiden — 
royal  in  goodness  and  beauty  as  well  as  birth. 
He  had  seen  her  in  difficult  and  untried  positions 
and  always  to  her  advantage ;  ever  self-possessed, 
serene  and  joyous,  nothing  disturbed  the  sweet 
peace  of  her  soul. 

For  months  she  had  been  the  angel  of  his 
household  helping  and  cheering  everybody,  high 
and  low,  and  the  Tower  would  ever  more  be 
impossible  as  a  residence  without  her  bright 
presence. 

It  is  not  so  easy  to  read  what  was  taking  place 
in  Margaret's  heart.  Malcolm  was  old  enough  to 
be  her  father,  and  he  was  a  widower,  too,  with  a 
son  who  was  no  longer  a  child.  He  was  a  wild 
Celt  only  a  little  more  civilised  than  his  chief- 


ST  MARGARET  IN  SCOTLAND   47 

tains,  with  his  interests  centred  in  warfare  and 
hunting ;  and  little  used  to  suit  his  language  and 
manners  to  the  company  of  gentle  ladies.  More- 
over, he  was  given  to  wild,  fierce  outbursts  of 
anger,  terrible  to  behold.  While  they  lasted 
Malcolm  was  little  better  than  his  savage 
ancestors  of  a  few  centuries  earlier,  but  happily 
they  were  of  brief  duration. 

And  yet  we  must  give  Canmore  his  due.  He 
does  not  always  get  it  in  history,  for  the  English 
only  knew  him  in  his  savage  moods,  when  he 
descended  on  them  in  one  of  his  wild  forays, 
burning  and  slaying  like  a  very  Dane.  The  Scots 
knew  another  and  a  different  Canmore — a  king 
who  was  wise  in  council  as  well  as  brave  in  battle 
and  as  true  to  his  friends  as  he  was  fierce  to  his 
enemies — and  Princess  Margaret  learnt  to  know 
him  too.  He  had  travelled  further  than  most 
princes  of  his  time  and  he  was  not  uneducated 
though  the  chroniclers  tell  that  he  never  learnt 
to  read  or  write;  for  he  could  converse  in  Latin 
as  well  as  in  Saxon  and  Gaelic. 

Appearance  goes  for  something,  too,  and 
Malcolm  was  every  inch  a  king.  His  huge  body 


48  ST    MARGARET 

was  formed  in  proportion  to  his  great  head, 
which,  crowned  with  its  ruddy  locks,  towered 
high  above  the  giant  warriors  of  his  clans,  and, 
terrible  as  his  face  appeared  to  Saxons  south  of 
the  Border,  it  was  full  of  kindliness  and  reverent 
admiration  when  it  looked  on  Margaret.  Perhaps 
with  her  acute  perception,  she  saw  more  in 
Malcolm  than  others  did,  even  in  those  first  days 
— glimpses  of  natural  refinement  which  only 
needed  cultivation,  possibilities  latent  within  the 
simple  giant's  soul,  such  as  he  himself,  not  to 
speak  of  his  neighbours,  had  never  dreamed  of. 

The  Princess  had  time  during  the  long  winter 
in  the  Tower  to  appreciate  the  sterling  worth  of 
the  Scottish  King  and  evidently  she  did  so,  for 
she  was  not  an  unwilling  or  reluctant  bride. 
Once  satisfied  that  this  marriage  was  the  will  of 
God,  she  gave  Malcolm  a  deep,  abiding  affection, 
which  appears  in  all  their  after  life,  and  which 
was  the  stronger  and  more  beautiful  because  the 
love  of  God  came  ever  first.  There  was  a  sigh 
all  the  same  for  the  convent  life  which  she  had 
loved  to  picture  as  her  own  and  which  now  must 
be  relinquished.  To  the  delight  of  the  Scottish 


ST  MARGARET  IN  SCOTLAND   49 

Court  and  with  the  approbation  of  Princess 
Agatha  and  Edgar  Atheling,  Malcolm  Canmore, 
King  of  Scotland,  and  Princess  Margaret  of 
Hungary  and  England  were  united  in  marriage 
during  the  Eastertide  of  1070. 

"  The  nuptials  were  magnificently  cele- 
brated "  says  Fordun  "  at  a  place  which  is  called 
Dunfermline,  which  the  reigning  king  then  held 
as  a  fortress." 

Fothad,  Bishop  of  St  Andrew's,  "  ane  man  of 
great  piety  and  learning  "  had  the  honour  of 
uniting  the  distinguished  couple,  and  Scotland's 
noblest  sons  and  daughters  were  gathered  to- 
gether at  Dunfermline  for  the  marriage  festivi- 
ties. These  occupied  many  days  and  were  as 
splendid  as  Malcolm's  love  and  generosity  could 
make  them.  The  minstrels  sang  of  the  beauty 
and  goodness  of  the  bride  and  of  the  valour  and 
mighty  deeds  of  the  bridegroom,  and  there  was  no 
jarring  note  in  the  general  harmony. 

Even  Nature  seemed  to  share  in  the  rejoicing, 
for  Margaret's  marriage  was  celebrated  at  an 
ideal  time  of  the  year — the  month  of  April  when 

winter's  dullness  and  decay  have  given  place  to 

P 


50  ST    MARGARET 

the  awakening  life  of  glad  springtime.  In  the 
woods  around  the  Tower,  the  trees  were  decking 
themselves  in  new  robes  of  pale  green,  while 
golden  primrose  stars  and  blue  violets  peeped 
timidly  out  from  their  clustering  leaves  on  the 
mossy  ground.  Overhead  the  birds  sang  joyously 
as  they  revelled  in  the  delights  of  nest-building, 
and  the  world  seemed  a  glorious  place  to  live  in. 
"  A  bright  beginning  to  a  bright  life  "  sang 
the  minstrels,  and  it  would  be  well  if  marriage 
prophecies  were  always  as  true.  There  had  been 
winter  in  Scotland  since  the  coming  of  the  Danes, 
but  it  was  fast  departing,  and  the  sunshine  of 
faith  would  fill  the  land  again.  Well  may 
painters  and  poets  vie  with  each  other,  making 
that  wedding  in  the  Tower  famous  alike  on 
picture  and  in  verse ;  for  no  other  wedding  before 
or  since,  in  castle  or  in  cottage,  has  brought  so 
many  blessings  to  Scotland. 


CHAPTER  IV 

ST  MARGARET,   WIFE  OF  MALCOLM  CANMORE 

LIKE  a  wise  woman,  St  Margaret  began  her 
married  life  by  putting  her  own  house  in  order. 
She  had  not  lived  in  Scotland  for  six  months 
without  seeing  much  that  was  amiss — abuses  on 
every  side  crying  aloud  for  remedy  and  reform. 
But  then  we  must  remember,  St  Margaret  did 
not  come  as  a  reformer — as  a  female  Alexander 
seeking  worlds  to  conquer.  She  could  not  see 
the  years  to  come  with  their  manifold  labours, 
and  in  her  humility  she  did  not  dream  of  the 
great  work  that  God  had  appointed  her  to  do. 

"  Do  the  duty  that  lies  nearest  thee, 
The  next  will  then  have  become  clearer." 

St  Margaret  was  just  a  good  woman  living  ever 
in  God's  presence  and  bent  on  doing  well  the 
duty  of  the  moment.  God  unfolded  His  design 


52  ST    MARGARET 

before  her  eyes  by  degrees,  and  she  was  always 
ready  for  a  movement  onward  and  upward 
according  to  His  will.  That  was  all  her  scheme 
of  reform,  and  probably  it  was  also  the  explana- 
tion of  her  wonderful  success.  A  proud 
' '  Sassenach  ' '  come  North  on  purpose  to  improve 
and  civilise  would  have  met  with  dour  opposi- 
tion, barring  her  progress  like  the  granite  rocks 
of  the  Grampians,  but  St  Margaret  disarmed 
opposition  by  her  humility  and  gentleness. 
She  tamed  her  lions  by  love,  and  then  led  them 
after  her  like  lambs.  Malcolm  was  her  first 
conquest,  and  none  could  have  been  more  com- 
plete. His  love  and  reverence  for  his  beautiful 
wife  grew  with  the  years,  and  his  whole  nature 
was  softened  and  sweetened  by  her  influence, 
while  impulses  for  good,  hitherto  dormant, 
began  to  make  themselves  felt,  stimulated  by 
her  bright  example. 

It  was  not  that  Queen  Margaret  sought  to  rule 
her  husband,  or  usurp  his  place ;  he  was  her  lord 
and  master,  head  of  the  kingdom  and  household 
alike,  and  she  honoured  him  accordingly.  Her 
power  was  ' '  for  rule,  not  for  battle, ' '  her  genius 


WIFE  OF  MALCOLM  CANMORE      53 

for  "  sweet  ordering,  arrangement  and  decision," 
and  perhaps  because  of  this  true  wifely  attitude, 
she  led  her  giant  whither  she  would.  Sir  Noel 
Paton,  one  of  Dunfermline's  distinguished  sons, 
has  given  us  a  beautiful  picture  of  St  Margaret. 
The  young  Queen  is  seated  by  her  husband's 
side  on  a  mossy  bank,  explaining  the  Scriptures 
from  the  book  on  her  knee,  while  he  listens  in 
rapt  attention.  The  painting  is  a  labour  of  love, 
and  not  the  first  of  the  artist's  tributes  to  St 
Margaret.  Most  of  his  early  efforts  had  the 
good  Queen  as  their  subject,  and  Dunfermline 
values  them  now  for  her  sake  as  well  as  for  his. 
Malcolm  was  indeed  his  young  wife's  pupil, 
and  probably  they  often  sat  together  as  in  the 
picture,  for  Scripture  was  always  St  Margaret's 
favourite  study,  but  all  the  same  that  was  not 
her  ordinary  method  of  instruction.  She  was 
too  humble  and  too  prudent  to  harass  her  fiery 
spouse  with  lectures  on  his  life  and  duty,  but 
she  chose  instead  to  live  the  Christ-life  before 
his  eyes  day  after  day,  proving  in  her  own  sweet 
self  that  holiness  is  the  truest  happiness. 
Malcolm  saw  and  admired,  and  gradually  began 


54  ST    MARGARET 

to  imitate.  He  had  hitherto  thought  that  such 
virtue  was  only  possible  in  monasteries  and 
convents. 

St  Margaret's  best  chronicler,  who  is  also  her 
confessor,  marvels  at  her  wonderful  union  with 
God,  and,  good  priest  and  monk  as  he  was,  felt 
himself  unworthy  to  be  her  "  soul's  friend." 

Some  servants  of  God,  when  first  strongly 
attracted  to  His  service,  have  fear  and  awe  in 
greater  evidence,  but  "  working  out  their  salva- 
tion in  fear  and  trembling,"  and  so  living  ever 
in  the  great  "  Taskmaster's  eye,"  they  learn  to 
love  Him  with  all  their  hearts  until  ' '  perfect 
love  casteth  out  fear."  It  was  not  thus  with  St 
Margaret.  She  could  look  back  to  no  time  of 
conversion,  for  she  had  given  God  her  heart  from 
her  very  childhood,  and  had  never  taken  back 
the  gift.  Because  she  loved  Him,  she  spent 
herself  gladly  in  His  service,  and  found  His 
yoke  sweet  and  His  burden  light.  Our  Lord's 
beautiful  life  on  earth  was  her  model,  His  own 
words,  "Be  ye  perfect  as  my  Heavenly  Father 
is  perfect,"  her  standard  of  sanctity,  and  so  it 
was  a  joy  to  her  to  live  a  life  of  prayer  and 


WIFE   OF   MALCOLM   CANMORE   55 

penance  and  work.  Perhaps  for  this  reason 
her  austerity  had  nothing  rigid  or  forbidding 
about  it.  She  lived  her  heroic  life  with  such 
freedom  and  simplicity,  and  found  so  much 
pure  happiness  in  it,  that  others  were  attracted 
in  spite  of  themselves  and  drawn  to  taste  the 
sweetness  of  seeking  first  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven. 

Queen  Margaret  was  a  perfect  wife,  and 
Malcolm  appreciated  her  value.  Except  in 
questions  of  war,  when  the  fierce  blood  of  the 
Gael  surged  up  in  him  with  a  force  too  powerful, 
even  for  her  influence,  her  slightest  wish  was  his 
law.  She  had  a  genius  for  getting  her  own  way 
with  him  and  others,  but  she  was  sweetly 
masterful  and  never  dogmatic  or  domineering. 
Stately  and  dignified  always,  there  was  nothing 
haughty  or  imperious  about  the  good  Queen. 
Her  strength  of  will  had  no  self-will  in  it,  and 
none  could  submit  and  give  up  her  own  opinion 
more  gracefully  than  she.  Thus  it  was  that 
people  yielded  to  her,  they  knew  not  why,  and 
in  all  her  changes  and  improvements  she  made 
no  enemies  and  evoked  little  criticism  except 


56  ST    MARGARET 

wondering  comments  on   her  unfailing  energy 
and  undaunted  courage. 

The  ancient  chroniclers  love  to  dwell  on  the 
relations  between  the  rugged  Scottish  king  and 
his  winsome  Saxon  wife.  They  speak  of  her 
sunny  face,  her  witty  speech,  her  "  infinite 
variety,"  and  notice  Malcolm's  half -wondering 
delight  in  her  presence  and  her  doings.  He  is 
constantly  finding  something  new  to  admire  and 
love  in  this  bright  spirit,  who  has  come  into  his 
life  as  from  another  world,  filling  it  with  joys 
hitherto  unknown  and  u^kought^.  He  loves 
her  books  just  because  she  loves  them,  though, 
strange  to  say,  he  never  learns  to  read  them. 
He  is  often  seen  to  take  them  tenderly  in  his 
hands,  reverently  kissing  the  page  that  his  wife 
has  been  reading.  Sometimes  the  Queen  misses 
a  book  for  several  days  and  then  finds  it  in  its 
place  again,  magnificently  bound  and  orna- 
mented with  gold  and  precious  stones.  Book- 
binding had  been  an  art  among  the  Scots  when 
they  first  came  to  Dalriada,  and  succeeding 
generations  had  brought  it  to  great  perfection,  so 
there  was  at  least  one  thing,  at  once  Celtic  and 


WIFE   OF   MALCOLM   CANMORE   57 

beautiful,  that  Malcolm  could  offer  his  Saxon 
Queen.  Not  once  but  many  times  did 
St  Margaret  thus  discover  a  favourite  volume 
arrayed  in  gorgeous  new  attire,  and  Canmore 
took  care  to  be  present  at  the  finding,  that  he 
might  enjoy  his  wife's  delight  in  her  treasure, 
now  doubly  valuable. 

After  years  of  married  life  the  royal  pair  were 
still  on  the  same  playfully  affectionate  terms 
with  each  other,  and  ancient  writers  quaintly 
marvel  that  domestic  happiness  should  continue 
so  long  unclouded.  There  came  exceptionally 
severe  winters  when  cold  and  famine  made  sad 
havoc  among  the  poor,  who  were  all  too  numer- 
ous in  those  primitive  times ;  and  the  Queen 
could  not  be  happy  while  they  were  suffering. 
She  would  sell  her  own  beautiful  garments  and 
jewels  that  she  might  have  wherewith  to  feed  and 
clothe  all  who  sought  her  help;  and  when  her 
resources  failed  Malcolm  was  required  to  come  to 
her  aid.  It  was  his  joy  to  supply  her  wants,  and 
prudence  had  to  stand  aside  and  be  silent  more 
than  once  while  the  royal  treasury  was  well-nigh 
drained.  The  Queen  introduced  variety  even 


58  ST    MARGARET 

into  her  appeals  for  the  poor,  for  in  periods  of 
distress  these  appeals  were  so  frequent  that  they 
might    easily     have     become     wearisome     and 
monotonous.     Sometimes  she  would  pretend  to 
steal  what  she  wanted,  and  nothing  pleased  her 
simple  Gael  better  than  to  catch  her  in  the  act. 
He  would  take  her  small  hand,  money  and  all,  in 
his  own  great  horny  one  and  lead  her  to  her  con- 
fessor, asking  him  how  a  little  thief  caught  red- 
handed  like  this  ought  to  be  punished.     He  was 
in  the  habit  of  laying  aside  several  gold  pieces 
for     the     offertory     at     Sunday     Mass,     and 
St  Margaret  often  confiscated  some  of  these  for 
her  poor.     When  the  King  discovered  his  loss 
he  invariably  pretended  to  be  hugely  scandal- 
ised, and  with  great  enjoyment  of  the  situation 
would  playfully  threaten  the  Queen  with  trial 
and  conviction.     He  never  required  restitution, 
however,  and  sometimes  he  would  demonstrate 
the  superiority  of  his   own   gigantic   hand   for 
thieving  purposes — a  superiority  which  his  wife 
was  ready  to  admit  and  use  to  the  advantage  of 
her  clients. 

Few  saints  have  suffered  less  from  calumny 


WIFE   OF   MALCOLM   CANMORE   59 

and  misunderstanding  than  St  Margaret  of  Scot- 
land. Her  exquisite  tact,  her  perfect  selfless- 
ness, and  unwearying  thought  for  others, 
together  with  her  freedom  from  anything 
approaching  self -righteousness,  made  everybody 
love  her,  and  so  she  changed  and  renewed  and 
improved  at  her  will,  without  any  of  the  friction 
that  often  attends  innovations.  Once,  indeed,  if 
tradition  speaks  truth,  an  evil  tongue  sought  to 
injure  the  saintly  Queen's  reputation,  and  this 
was  the  only  occasion  of  a  shadow  between 
husband  and  wife. 

The  incident  occurred  in  the  early  days  of 
St  Margaret's  married  life,  and  at  a  time  when 
Malcolm's  carelessness  about  the  needs  of  his 
soul  occasioned  his  young  wife  considerable 
anxiety.  It  was  not  her  way  to  weary  him  with 
reproaches,  but  she  poured  out  her  heart's  desire 
to  God  in  prayer,  and  punished  her  own  innocent 
body  by  fasts  and  penances  to  win  graces  for  her 
husband. 

The  forests  around  Dunfermline  teemed  with 
game — not  only  the  mild  varieties  of  our  own 
day  being  there  in  abundance,  but  also  the  wolf 


60  ST    MARGARET 

and  the  ferocious  wild  boar.  Hunting  was  a 
dangerous  pastime,  and  probably  because  it  was 
so,  Malcolm  loved  it.  If  he  could  not  be  in  the 
thick  of  battle,  fighting  against  savage  men,  the 
next  best  thing  was  the  pursuit  of  these  savage 
beasts,  and  Queen  Margaret  sighed  when  she  saw 
him  set  forth — anxious  alike  for  the  body  and  soul 
of  this  wild  lord  of  hers.  It  was  not  part  of  her 
idea  of  wifely  duty,  however,  to  absent  herself  or 
look  gloomy  because  her  husband  refused  to  be  a 
stay-at-home  to  please  her.  When  the  hunting- 
party  left  the  Castle,  she  was  there  with  her 
ladies,  smiling  and  beautiful,  to  wave  a  farewell, 
and  Malcolm  carried  the  memory  of  her  fair  face 
with  him  through  all  the  wild  deeds  of  the  day. 

As  the  last  sounds  of  the  hunt  died  away,  the 
Queen  was  in  the  habit  of  dismissing  her  women. 
They  went  back  to  their  needlework,  and  she, 
alone  and  thoughtful,  wended  her  way  down  a 
steep  woodland  path  to  the  dell,  part  of  which  is 
still  preserved  in  the  heart  of  busy  Dunfermline. 
Here  Nature  had  made  her  an  oratory — a  cave 
hewn  out  of  the  native  rock  by  one  or  other  of  the 
disintegrating  forces,  and  hidden  in  its  recesses, 


WIFE   OF   MALCOLM   CANMORE   61 

she  could  give  herself  up  undisturbed,  to  prayer 
and  penance — a  queen  no  longer,  but  simply  a 
creature  alone  with  her  Creator. 

The  mischief-maker,  a  young  man  in  the 
King's  following,  dared  not  make  open  accusa- 
tions against  the  Queen,  but  imitating  the  cun- 
ning of  Satan,  whose  work  he  was  doing,  he 
sought  to  poison  Malcolm's  mind  gradually  by 
suggestions  and  insinuations.  He  gently  edged 
in  a  word  from  time  to  time  until  he  got  the 
King's  mind  to  dwell  on  the  difference  between 
himself  and  his  wife — he,  middle-aged  and 
uncouth — she,  young  and  beautiful;  he,  a  great 
rough  soldier — she,  refined  and  gentle;  he, 
ignorant — she,  learned  and  accomplished.  The 
tempter  spoke  pityingly  and  marvelled  that  a 
lady  of  so  many  graces  could  be  content  to  dwell 
in  dull  Dunfermline.  Malcolm  bade  the  man  be 
silent,  but  his  not  too  even  temper  was  ruffled 
and  his  peace  of  mind  gone.  Not  at  all  self- 
sufficient,  the  poor  King  easily  owned  to  himself 
that  Margaret  might  well  desire  more  than  he 
with  all  his  loving  good-will  could  give  her,  and 
when  at  home  again  he  found  himself  furtively 


62  ST    MARGARET 

studying  her  face,  seeking  in  it  traces  of  the 
discontent  which  he  began  to  persuade  himself 
must  be  there.  He  could  not  appreciate  his  own 
worth  as  his  wife  did,  and  was  easily  induced  to 
lay  too  much  stress  on  appearances. 

Seeing  evidence  of  his  success  in  the  King's 
preoccupation,  the  calumniator  ventured  to  try 
again.  One  day,  he  remarked  on  the  Queen's 
gay  farewell,  as  the  hunting-party  left  the 
Tower,  and  wondered  if  she  ever  thought  how 
easily  the  expedition  might  have  a  tragic  ending, 
and  then — it  was  but  a  suggestion — perhaps  the 
Queen  had  amusements  of  her  own  in  her  lord's 
absence.  It  was  said  that  she  spent  hours  alone 
in  the  woods  when  he  went  a-hunting — but 
ladies,  young  and  lovely  as  she,  were  seldom  so 
fond  of  solitude.  The  tone  said  more  than  the 
words,  and  Malcolm  was  wild  with  rage  and 
jealousy,  and  yet  angry  with  himself  for  being  so 
much  moved  by  mere  words.  What  he  said  or 
did  to  his  presuming  follower  we  are  not  told,  but 
he  brooded  on  the  evil  import  of  what  he  had  just 
heard,  and  grew  more  and  more  miserable.  Yet 
he  dissembled  his  feelings  and  bided  his  time, 


[To  face  page  63 


WIFE   OF   MALCOLM   CANMORE   63 

resolved  to  find  out  for  himself  how  his  wife 
spent  her  time  in  the  forest  dell. 

One  morning  the  hunting-party  went  out  as 
usual,  but  presently  Malcolm  separated  himself 
from  the  company  and  returned  alone  to  the 
Tower.  He  was  just  in  time  to  see  the  Queen 
with  eyes  bent  thoughtfully  on  the  ground 
slowly  taking  her  solitary  way  along  the  wood- 
land path.  Silently  he  followed  her,  keeping  at 
a  distance  and  well  in  the  shadow  of  the  trees. 
Presently  Queen  Margaret,  turning  a  sharp 
corner,  disappeared  suddenly,  and  the  King, 
pausing  a  moment  to  grasp  his  sword,  dashed 
after  her.  He  found  himself  close  to  a  minia- 
ture waterfall.  The  brook  babbled  as  it  tumbled 
over  the  rocks,  just  avoiding  in  its  fall,  the  rock- 
hewn  oratory  of  the  Queen,  and  Malcolm  heard 
the  sweet  tones  of  her  voice  mingled  with  the 
murmur  of  the  cascade,  and  the  music  of  the 
birds  singing  in  the  trees  overhead.  She  was 
praying  to  God  with  all  the  loving  abandonment 
that  her  supposed  solitude  warranted,  and  her 
prayer  was  for  her  husband  that  God  would 
touch  his  brave,  noble  heart  and  lead  him  to 


64  ST    MARGARET 

realise  the  truth  of  the  words  : — "  What  does  it 
profit  a  man  if  he  gain  the  whole  world  and  suffer 
the  loss  of  his  own  soul." 

Poor  Malcolm !  Struck  with  shame  at  the 
thought  of  his  unworthy  suspicions,  he  sank  to 
the  earth  with  a  groan,  and  the  clanking  noise 
made  by  his  sword  on  the  pebbly  ground  brought 
the  startled  Queen  from  the  cave  where  she  had 
been  prostrate  in  prayer.  To  her  astonishment 
she  found  her  husband  prostrate  outside,  his  face 
hidden  in  his  hands  and  his  whole  being  sunk  in 
deepest  self-abasement.  She  raised  him  up, 
heard  his  story,  and  forgave  and  comforted  him 
like  a  naughty  child,  and  doubtless  she  also  won 
from  him  promises  of  fidelity  to  his  spiritual 
duties  in  future.  They  went  home  together 
through  the  woods  to  the  Tower,  and  the  shadow 
was  gone  for  ever. 

Several  of  St  Margaret's  books  got  a  costly 
binding  in  the  year  that  followed,  and  her 
oratory  cave  was  furnished  with  the  most  beauti- 
ful appointments  and  ornaments  that  her  gener- 
ous husband  could  obtain  for  it.  The  Queen  let 
him  have  his  way,  as  she  always  did  in  such 


WIFE  OF  MALCOLM  CANMORE    65 

matters.     Probably    she   would    have    preferred 
her  retreat  in  all  its  pristine  bareness,  but  new 
methods  of  mortification  were  easily  found,  and 
she  would  not  hurt  her  dear  penitent's  feelings 
or  prevent  a  generous  act  on  his  part  for  the  sake 
of  her  own   preferences.      St   Margaret's   pen- 
ances were  never  a  reproach  or  an  inconvenience 
to  others.     She  kept  the  secrets  of  the  King  of 
kings  as  to  His  communications  with  her  soul, 
and    humbly    believed    that    others    had    their 
secrets,  too,  knowing  that  God  has  different  ways 
of  leading  souls  to  Himself.     Thus  she  was  hard 
and  severe  with  herself,  but  always  kind  and 
considerate  with  regard  to  others. 

Attentive  to  his  religious  duties  at  first  chiefly 
to  please  his  Queen,  Malcolm  soon  began  to  find 
sweetness  and  comfort  in  them,  and  he  enjoyed  a 
peace  such  as  he  had  never  known  before.  It 
happened  then  that  what  he  had  begun  to  please 
St  Margaret,  he  continued,  to  please  God. 
Turgot,  the  Queen's  confessor,  cannot  suffici- 
ently express  his  admiration  for  the  piety  of  this 
warlike  king.  "  He  learnt  from  her,"  says  this 

chronicler,   "to  watch  the  night  in  prayer.     I 

E 


66  ST    MARGARET 

could  not  enough  admire,  to  see  the  fervour  of 
this  prince  at  prayer,  and  to  discover  so  much 
compunction  of  heart  and  such  tears  of  devotion 
in  a  secular  man." 

Queen  Margaret  made  great  changes  at  Dun- 
fermline.  The  hitherto  bare  walls  of  the  Tower 
were  covered  with  rich  tapestries  and  beautiful 
hangings,  securing  privacy  in  some  apartments 
and  protection  from  the  weather  in  others,  for 
the  masonry  was  none  too  compact.  The  Queen 
even  procured  a  few  panes  of  glass,  very  wonder- 
ful in  the  Scotland  of  the  eleventh  century, 
though  certainly  not  beautiful  or  even  very  trans- 
parent; and  we  are  told  that  these  were  carried 
between  Dunfermline  and  Edinburgh,  according 
to  the  residence  of  the  royal  family  for  the  time 
being.  The  Queen  herself  wore  rich  and 
elegant  garments,  and  she  loved  beauty  and 
order  in  the  appointments  of  all  about  her. 
Another  royal  saint,  Queen  Elizabeth  of  Hun- 
gary, distinguished  herself  by  setting  court 
usage  aside  and  dressing  like  a  peasant  amid  the 
splendours  of  a  palace.  In  her  day  and  at 
her  court  the  sumptuousness  of  personal  attire 


WIFE  OF  MALCOLM  CANMORE     67 

was  in  danger  of  being  carried  to  excess,  and  the 
Queen's  simplicity  served  as  a  check  to  such 
extravagance,  reminding  gay  young  people  that 
they  had  souls  to  adorn  as  well  as  bodies. 

With  Queen  Margaret  of  Scotland,  circum- 
stances were  very  different.  Civilisation  was  in 
its  infancy  in  her  kingdom,  and  she  found  her- 
self its  nursing-mother.  Her  people  were  noble 
and  brave  as  any  she  had  known  in  other  coun- 
tries, but  she  would  have  them  cultured,  too ;  and 
culture  and  refinement  were  sadly  wanting. 
The  young  Queen  had  to  establish  customs  befit- 
ting royalty  and  to  secure  for  it  the  dignity  and 
consequence  that  would  make  it  honoured  and 
respected.  She  and  her  husband,  indeed,  with 
their  regal  personalities,  might  easily  dispense 
with  mere  trappings  of  state,  but  there  was  the 
future  to  consider,  and  St  Margaret  sought  to 
make  things  easier  for  those  who  would  come 
after  her.  There  were  the  people  to  consider 
also.  The  royal  home  was  the  highest  in  Scot- 
land, and  as  to  the  city  set  on  a  hill,  all  eyes  were 
turned  to  it.  Humbler  homes  looked  to  it  as  the 
model,  and  the  Queen  would  therefore  make  it  a 


68  ST    MARGARET 

noble  ideal — as  beautiful  and  gracious  as  pos- 
sible. It  was  not  enough  that  she  should  be  a 
perfect  wife  and  mother;  she  had  to  be  a  school- 
mistress, too.  Scotland  was  her  school,  and  its 
people  her  pupils.  The  Scots  had  much  to  learn. 
It  was  but  a  few  hundred  years  before,  that  their 
ancestors  had  roamed  through  their  native 
forests,  clad  in  the  skins  of  animals  and,  need- 
less to  say,  not  too  particular  about  picturesque 
dwellings  and  daintily  appointed  tables.  Even 
in  the  eleventh  century  there  were  few  houses  of 
stone  in  Scotland  and  these  were  rudely  built  and 
more  rudely  furnished,  while  their  owners,  as  a 
rule,  were  easily  satisfied  in  the  matter  of  food 
and  clothing.  Provided  always  that  it  was  suffici- 
ent for  their  needs,  appearance  went  for  little. 
Innate  nobility  and  natural  refinement  were  not 
wanting.  These  ancient  Scots  were  quick  to 
recognise  excellence  of  every  kind  and  yield  it 
admiration,  but  then,  at  such  a  distance  from 
more  civilised  countries  and  living  amid  scenes 
of  almost  constant  warfare,  their  opportunities 
were  few.  Queen  Margaret  with  her  unerring 
knowledge  of  character  realised  at  once  what  she 


WIFE  OF  MALCOLM  CANMORE    69 

had  to  do.  Taste  had  to  be  trained  and  higher 
ideals  of  conduct  and  beauty  had  to  be  set  before 
these  grown-up  children.  She  expected  appreci- 
ation and  ready  imitation,  and  she  was  right. 
Her  methods  were  entirely  successful,  and 
gradually  to  the  King's  delight  there  gathered 
round  his  Queen  a  court  circle,  the  politeness  and 
refinement  of  whose  members  was  not  unworthy 
of  its  gracious  centre.  Nor  was  Queen  Margaret 
unmindful  of  her  husband's  dignity.  He,  too, 
had  to  dress  in  accordance  with  his  rank,  and  to 
submit  to  be  attended  by  a  numerous  and  well- 
equipped  retinue,  whenever  he  went  abroad.  At 
home  the  number  of  his  attendants  was  increased 
and  he  was  waited  on  no  longer  by  men  of  low 
birth  but  by  the  nobles,  who  soon  came  to  con- 
sider it  an  honour  to  be  so  employed.  At  table 
Malcolm  was  served  in  gold  and  silver  plate  and 
had  to  be  much  more  decorous  in  eating  than 
formerly,  and  his  apartments  became  so  splendid 
that  it  was  some  time  before  he  could  accustom 
himself  to  their  elegance.  As  to  his  public 
appearances — they  were  attended  by  pomp  and 
ceremony  previously  unknown  in  Scotland  and 


7o  ST    MARGARET 

never  failed  to  make  a  great  sensation  among  the 
simple  folk. 

Thus  St  Margaret  had  something  to  teach 
everybody  and  yet  there  was  nothing  aggressive 
in  her  teaching,  none  of  that  arrogant  assump- 
tion of  Saxon  superiority,  which  has  so  often 
wounded  the  susceptibilities  of  the  Gaels  in  later 
intercourse  between  the  two  countries. 

St  Margaret's  gentle  tact  is  well  exemplified 
in  the  story  of  the  "  Grace  Cup."  At  her  first 
banquets  she  was  considerably  disturbed  in  mind 
by  the  behaviour  of  the  rough  Scottish  nobles. 
They  were  accustomed  to  consult  their  own 
inclinations  only,  and  as  soon  as  their  appetites 
were  appeased  they  rushed  from  the  table  with 
scant  ceremony  and  no  consideration  for  the 
presence  of  either  Queen  or  chaplain.  The 
latter  ' '  said  grace  ' ' — the  phrase  was  the  same 
then  as  now — but  few  of  the  male  guests  were 
ever  left  to  join  in  the  thanksgiving.  Queen 
Margaret  neither  remonstrated  nor  showed  dis- 
pleasure, but  she  quietly  made  ,up  her  mind  that 
God  should  be  honoured  by  a  grace  in  which  all 
who  had  partaken  of  the  meal  should  join,  and 


WIFE  OF  MALCOLM  CANMORE     71 

also  that  her  banquets  should  not  be  broken  ,up 
with  such  unseemly  haste  and  rudeness. 

One  day  she  smilingly  invited  her  guests  to 
remain  to  the  end  of  the  feast.  After  grace,  she 
told  them,  a  cup  of  choicest  wine  from  her  own 
table  would  be  sent  to  each  and  it  was  her  desire 
that  they  should  drink  it  in  her  honour.  Who 
could  refuse  such  a  flattering  invitation  ? 
Nobody  left  the  board  before  grace  that  day,  and 
as  the  favour  became  a  custom  at  subsequent 
banquets,  the  Queen  had  no  more  cause  for  com- 
plaint. For  centuries  after  St  Margaret's  death 
the  grace-cup  followed  every  Scottish  feast,  and 
it  would  have  been  a  grave  mark  of  discourtesy 
to  refuse  to  drink  of  it. 

Gradually  the  primitive  manners  of  the  Scot- 
tish court  gave  place  to  pomp  and  state  similar 
to  that  of  the  royalty  of  England  and  continen- 
tal countries.  Communication  with  other  lands 
became  frequent  and  trade  and  commerce  began 
to  flourish  in  consequence.  Merchants  came 
from  all  parts  of  the  Continent  and  found  ready 
purchasers  for  their  wares  among  the  aspiring 
Scots. 


72  ST    MARGARET 

St  Margaret  never  learnt  to  speak  Gaelic  well, 
and  by  degrees  the  language  spoken  south  of  the 
Forth  and  Clyde — mainly  Saxon  and  the  ances- 
tor of  what  we  now  call  "  broad  Scots  " — became 
the  ordinary  court  language.  The  majority  of 
the  people  of  Scotland  continued  to  use  the 
Gaelic  language  for  hundreds  of  years  after 
St  Margaret's  time,  but  the  court  never 
returned  to  it  again.  "  Broad  Scots  "  is, 
unhappily,  dying  out  or  sinking  to  the  level  of  a 
mere  dialect,  but  until  the  beginning  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  and  its  easy  intercourse  with 
England  it  was  the  language  of  all  in  Scotland — 
gentle  and  simple  alike — who  did  not  speak 
Gaelic.  It  is  more  Saxon  by  far  than  the 
English  language  itself,  which,,  besides  being 
saturated  with  Norman  words,  as  a  result  of  the 
Conquest,  is  a  borrower  from  every  other 
language  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 


CHAPTER  V 

ST  MARGARET,  PROTECTRESS  OF  THE  POOR 

THOUGH  nearly  nine  centuries  have  passed 
since  Queen  Margaret  kept  house  in  Dunferm- 
line  Tower  or  on  Edinburgh's  rugged  rock  and 
sent  the  rays  of  her  sunny  influence  far  and  near 
over  the  "  land  of  brown  heath  and  shaggy 
wood,"  we  know  fairly  well  how  her  days  were 
spent.  They  were  busy  days,  and  if  the  good 
Queen  wore  gorgeous  raiment,  she  certainly 
gave  but  scant  time  to  the  consideration  of  it  or 
of  anything  personal,  except,  indeed,  that  most 
important  of  all  personal  possessions,  her  own 
soul.  Early  in  her  married  life,  distrustful  of 
herself  and  believing,  like  the  true  daughter  of 
the  Church  that  she  always  was,  that  it  is  better, 
at  least  in  spiritual  things,  to  be  guided  by 
another  than  by  oneself,  she  looked  around  for  a 

73 


74  ST    MARGARET 

worthy  priest  who  would  be  at  once  her  confessor 
and  her  spiritual  director.  People  spoke  much 
of  the  sanctity  and  learning  of  Turgot,  Prior  of 
St  Andrew's  and  formerly  of  St  Cuthbert's 
Monastery,  Durham,  and  the  Queen  obtained 
from  her  husband  the  favour  of  having  this  holy 
man  appointed  chaplain  of  the  royal  palace. 
She  put  herself  at  once  under  Turgot 's  spiritual 
direction  and  followed  his  rules  for  the  guidance 
of  her  soul  with  perfect  obedience.  It  is  from 
his  chronicle,  written  at  the  request  of 
St  Margaret's  daughter,  Matilda  Queen  of  Eng- 
land, that  we  know  something  of  his  saintly 
penitent's  inner  life  and  also  most  of  the  details 
concerning  her  prayer  and  works  of  charity. 
As  to  her  penances  he  often  desired  the  Queen  to 
moderate  them,  though  he  dared  not  altogether 
forbid  what  was  so  evidently  a  great  means  of 
sanctification.  It  was  only  at  the  last,  when 
St  Margaret  was  ill  and  suffering,  and  death  was 
drawing  near,  that  she  could  be  prevailed  upon  to 
give  up  some  of  her  beloved  penitential 
exercises. 

The  enthusiastic  admiration  with  which  this 


PROTECTRESS  OF  THE  POOR     75 

"  soul's  friend  "  of  the  good  Queen  speaks  of 
her  life,  gives  the  reader  a  high  idea  of  the 
hidden  sanctity,  of  which,  as  her  confessor,  he 
may  not  speak  so  freely.  "Every  action,"  he 
tells  us,  "  was  distinguished  by  moderation  and 
gentleness.  When  she  spoke,  her  conversation 
was  seasoned  with  the  salt  of  wisdom ;  when  she 
was  silent,  her  silence  was  full  of  good 
thoughts." 

Good  thoughts  hidden  deep  in  the  fertile  soil 
of  a  pure  heart  are  the  seeds  from  which  spring 
the  flowers  and  fruits  of  kind  words  and  good 
deeds,  and  St  Margaret's  heart  must  have  been 
well  planted  with  such  seeds,  for  her  life  was  a 
veritable  garden  of  these  flowers  and  fruits. 
She  gave  her  means  and  her  energies  in  generous 
measure  for  the  spiritual  and  temporal  welfare  of 
the  poor  and  the  sick,  and  especially  of  the  chil- 
dren, not  with  the  altruistic  motives  of  modern 
philanthropists,  but  just  because  these  unfortun- 
ates were  Christ's  little  ones  "  and  in  minister- 
ing to  them  she  was  ministering  to  Him,  for  had 
He  not  said  '  Whatsoever  you  shall  do  to  these, 
my  least  brethren,  you  shall  do  it  unto  Me  '  ?  " 


76  ST    MARGARET 

"  She  was  poorer  than  any  of  her  paupers, " 
says  her  biographer,  "  for  they,  even  when  they 
had  nothing,  wished  to  have  something,  while  all 
her  anxiety  was  to  strip  herself  of  what  she 
had."  Queen  Margaret  was  an  early  riser 
winter  and  summer  alike,  and  winter  mornings 
were  dismal  and  cold,  even  in  a  palace,  in  those 
primitive  days.  The  feeble  light  of  a  candle 
made  the  darkness  visible  and  the  fire  of  wood  or 
turf — if  it  was  lit  so  early — served  only  to  make 
the  unheated  chapel  colder  by  contrast.  Each 
morning  the  Queen  spent  several  hours  in  her 
chapel.  There  were  long  private  prayers  while 
the  rest  of  the  household  were  still  asleep  and 
during  this  time  "  only  her  body  was  here 
below,  for  her  spirit  was  near  to  God."  Several 
low  Masses  were  generally  said  very  early  in  the 
royal  chapel  and  all  these  St  Margaret  heard 
with  the  greatest  devotion,  being  still  on  her 
knees  when  the  household  assembled  for  the 
daily  High  Mass. 

Every  day  of  the  year  the  good  Queen  waited 
on  twenty-four  poor  people  at  their  first  meal 
before  she  broke  her  own  fast.  This  number  of 


PROTECTRESS  OF  THE  POOR      77 

pensioners  she  supported  always,  and  when  good 
fortune  or  death  made  a  break  in  their  ranks,  the 
vacant  place  was  at  once  filled  by  another  needy 
one,  always  easily  found.  All  her  life, 
St  Margaret  had  these  favoured  poor  folks  near 
her,  for  when  she  removed  from  one  residence  to 
another,  she  insisted  that  they  should  accom- 
pany her  and  their  morning  meal  was  always  her 
own  especial  care.  "  Not  until  after  she  had 
devoutly  waited  .upon  Christ  in  these  His  poor, 
was  it  her  habit  to  refresh  her  own  feeble  body." 
The  good  Queen's  ordinary  days  were  full  of 
charity,  but  during  the  forty  days  preceding 
Christmas,  and  the  forty  days  of  Lent,  it  seemed 
as  if  her  desires  could  not  be  satisfied  and  she 
multiplied  her  prayers  and  good  works  to  such 
an  extent  that  people  wondered  how  she  found 
time  for  her  multitudinous  secular  duties. 
During  these  holy  seasons  she  spent  the  greater 
part  of  every  night  in  prayer.  In  the  evening 
she  retired  for  a  short  rest,  but  was  up  and  in  the 
chapel  before  midnight.  It  was  her  custom  to 
say  the  divine  office  at  this  time  and  also  the 
offices  of  the  dead,  and  the  psalter.  When  the 


78  ST    MARGARET 

office  of  matins  and  lands,  sung  by  the  priests, 
was  finished,  she  returned  to  her  chamber  and 
washed  the  feet  of  six  poor  persons  whom  she 
found  waiting.  It  was  one  of  the  chamberlain's 
duties  to  have  these  people  in  the  house  over- 
night, that  the  Queen  might  satisfy  her  desire 
for  charity,  and  they  always  returned  home 
blessing  her,  no  less  for  her  loving  kindness  than 
for  the  generous  alms  which  accompanied  it. 
Her  act  of  charity  over,  St  Margaret  would  go  to 
bed  and  take  some  much-needed  rest,  but  it  was 
brief,  for  there  were  works  of  mercy  yet  to  be 
done  and  prayers  to  be  said  before  the  commence- 
ment of  the  first  Mass. 

Nine  little  orphans  were  brought  up  at  the 
Queen's  expense  and  these  she  cared  for  herself 
throughout  the  penitential  seasons.  They  were 
brought  to  her  at  an  early  hour  and  she  loved  to 
wash  and  dress  and  feed  them,  taking  the  very 
little  ones  on  her  knee  as  tenderly  as  if  they  had 
been  her  own  children  and  feeding  them  with  the 
spoon  she  used  herself.  The  frequent  wars 
made  orphans  numerous  enough  and  it  was 
always  one  of  St  Margaret's  favourite  charities 


PROTECTRESS  OF  THE  POOR      79 

to  provide  for  these  helpless  children.  In  hun- 
dreds of  Scottish  homes  in  the  years  to  come,  the 
good  wife  would  gather  the  "  bairns  "  round  her 
knee  in  the  "  ingle-neuk  "  and  tell  them  tales  of 
her  childhood  in  the  royal  palace  and  of  the  care 
and  kindness  of  the  good  Queen  who  had  been  as 
a  mother  to  her  and  many  others,  orphaned  by 
the  ravages  of  war  or  fell  disease.  With  grate- 
ful pride  St  Margaret's  words  of  kindly  counsel 
would  be  repeated,  and  her  lessons  given  over 
again — lessons  in  cleanliness  and  care  of  the 
body  as  well  as  of  the  soul — for  though  the 
Queen  had  such  tenderness  and  commiseration 
for  poverty,  she  had  none  for  dirt,  and  saw  no 
reason  why  the  two  should  go  hand-in-hand  in  a 
country  like  Scotland,  where  water  was  so  pure 
and  abundant.  Thus  it  was  that  she  spoke  to 
future  generations  as  well  as  to  her  own  and  her 
apostolate  continued  for  centuries  after  her  lov- 
ing heart  had  ceased  to  beat  and  her  once  busy 
hands  were  still. 

After  the  orphans  had  been  fed  and  tended, 
the  King  joined  his  wife,  and  together  they  went 
to  the  royal  hall  where  attendants  had  already 


8o  ST    MARGARET 

assembled  some  three  hundred  poor  people. 
These  were  arranged  in  order  round  the  great 
room  and  when  the  King  and  Queen  had  entered, 
the  doors  were  shut,  for  none  were  allowed  to  be 
present  at  this  almsgiving  except  the  chaplain 
and  a  few  attendants.  Both  Malcolm  and 
Margaret  waited  on  these  lowly  guests,  serving 
them  with  food  and  drink,  and  speaking  words  of 
help  and  encouragement  that  were  even  more 
strengthening.  Many  men  and  women,  who 
had  found  life's  problems  too  numerous  and  too 
difficult  and  were  tempted  in  consequence  to 
despair  and  give  up  the  contest,  came  forth  from 
the  royal  presence  with  fresh  vigour  and  with 
fortitude  enough  for  a  resolution  to  take  a  new 
standpoint  and  try  again.  When  all  her  poor 
guests  had  been  attended  to,  the  Queen  repaired 
to  chapel  or  church  and  poured  out  her  heart  in 
prayer  to  God  for  all  those  depending  on  her. 
Sometimes  she  heard  as  many  as  five  or  six  low 
Masses  before  the  household  assembled  for  High 
Mass.  Silent  and  motionless,  she  knelt  hour 
after  hour,  offering  herself  as  a  sacrifice  to  God 
and  praying  with  such  fervour  and  earnestness 


PROTECTRESS  OF  THE  POOR     81 

that  the  tears  streamed  from  her  eyes.  Let 
those  who  think  her  victories  easily  won,  con- 
template her  here  before  the  altar  in  closest  union 
with  her  Lord  and  Master,  and  consider  how 
powerful  is  the  prayer  of  a  pure  and  humble 
heart !  If  we  could  pray  as  St  Margaret  did,  we 
too,  like  her  should  "  speak  of  victory." 

When  High  Mass  was  over  it  was  time  for  the 
Queen's  own  repast,  but  before  she  partook  of  it 
there  were  still  her  twenty-four  pensioners  to  be 
served  and  waited  on.  It  was  not  far  from  mid- 
day when  at  last  she  broke  her  fast  and  then  her 
meal  was  ascetic  in  the  extreme.  She  was 
always  abstemious,  so  much  so  that  her  ordinary 
meals  were  like  the  fasts  of  other  people,  but 
during  penitential  seasons  and  in  times  of  war 
and  consequent  anxiety,  she  seemed  scarcely  to 
eat  at  all.  At  meals  taken  in  company  with 
others,  she  was  careful  to  hide  her  mortifica- 
tions. By  agreeable  conversation  and  attention 
to  the  needs  of  others,  which  was,  of  course,  her 
duty  as  hostess,  she  cleverly  avoided  notice  with 
regard  to  her  own  easily  satisfied  requirements, 
and  she  was  always  less  abstemious  at  the  house- 

V 


82  ST    MARGARET 

hold      table     than      when     she     was      served 
privately. 

At  times  of  anxiety  when  the  King  was 
engaged  in  important  state  affairs,  or  absent  on 
one  of  his  frequent  warlike  expeditions  to  the 
north  or  south,  St  Margaret  spent  extra  hours 
before  the  altar  or  in  her  cave  oratory,  interced- 
ing with  sighs  and  tears  for  husband,  children, 
and  people.  In  addition  to  all  this,  every  season 
had  its  own  appropriate  prayers,  and  the  Queen 
never  wearied  or  thought  she  had  done  enough. 
In  Lent  she  said  the  entire  psalter  three  or  four 
times  a  day,  and  then,  too,  she  multiplied  her 
penances  and,  as  we  have  seen,  her  acts  of 
charity  and  mercy. 

"  The  Queen     .     .     . 
Oftener  on  her  knees  than  on  her  feet, 
Died  every  day  she  lived." 

This  by  a  strange  mistake  is  what  Shakespeare 
says  of  Malcolm's  mother,  though  there  is  no 
doubt  that  it  was  Malcolm's  wife  that  he  was 
really  thinking  of  when  he  wrote  the  words.  But 
it  was  not  only  while  on  her  knees  that  the  good 
Queen  prayed.  She  lived  always  in  God's 
Presence  and  so  her  life  was  a  continual  prayer. 


PROTECTRESS  OF  THE  POOR    83 

That  strong  will  of  hers  was  used  in  the  first 
place  to  conquer  self,  and  hence  its  marvellous 
influence  over  others.  They  who  would  teach 
others  must  first  be  learners  and  they  only  can 
rule  well,  who  have  learnt  to  obey. 

Before,  but  more  especially  after,  St  Mar- 
garet's death,  wonderful  stories  were  told  of  her 
power  with  God.  Great  numbers  were  some- 
times fed  from  a  store  which,  humanly  speaking, 
was  all  inadequate,  and  money  seemed  to  multi- 
ply in  the  good  Queen's  hands,  when  she  had 
slaves  to  ransom  or  poor  men's  debts  to  pay. 
The  touch  of  the  same  gentle  hands,  as 
St  Margaret  dressed  the  wounds  of  her  suffering 
poor,  often  brought  relief  and  healing,  and  the 
cure  was  gratefully  ascribed  to  the  hand  rather 
than  to  the  ointment  and  dressing. 

St  Margaret's  humility  was  so  well  known 
that  none  dared  speak  aloud  of  these  marvels ; 
but  they  tenderly  whispered  them  to  each  other 
and  to  their  children  as  they  gave  thanks  to  God. 
It  was  no  wonder  to  them  that  He  should  bestow 
more  than  earthly  power  on  one  who  loved  and 
served  Him  so  well  as  did  their  beloved  Queen, 


84  ST    MARGARET 

Turgot  has  evidently  heard  the  stories  told  by 
the  people  and  probably  he  could  tell  many 
more  wonderful,  himself,  but  he  respects  the 
Queen's  secrets  after  her  death  as  he  had  done 
in  her  lifetime,  and  his  chronicle  tells  of  no 
wonders  connected  with  her  charities. 
"  Others,"  he  says,  "  may  admire  the  indica- 
tions of  sanctity  which  miracles  afford ;  I  admire 
much  more  the  works  of  mercy  which  I  perceived 
in  Margaret.  Miracles  are  common  to  the  evil 
and  the  good  but  the  works  of  true  piety  and 
charity  are  peculiar  to  the  good . ' '  Yet  he  would 
have  us  know  that  he  has  not  told  us  everything 
about  his  saintly  penitent.  Addressing  her 
daughter  Queen  Matilda,  for  whom  his  chronicle 
is  written,  he  says  : — "  It  is  my  wish  that  you 
should  know  and  others  through  you,  that  were  I 
to  attempt  to  recount  all  I  could  tell  to  her 
honour,  I  might  be  suspected,  while  praising 
your  mother  to  be  really  flattering  your  queenly 
dignity.  ...  I  suppress  many  things  fear- 
ing that  they  might  appear  incredible." 

Throughout  Fife,  and  in  Edinburgh,  too,  there 
were  many  legends  about  "  Sweet  St  Margaret >: 


PROTECTRESS  OF  THE  POOR     85 

in  Catholic  ages.  Such  stories  are  at  least 
founded  on  truth  and  certainly  those  relating  to 
the  good  Queen  show  how  she  lived  in  the  hearts 
of  her  people  and  how  all-powerful  they  con- 
sidered her  to  be  with  God,  for  whose  sake  she 
was  so  good  to  them  and  to  their  children.  The 
following  is  a  Fifeshire  legend,  one  of  many 
often  told  at  the  firesides  of  ' '  the  kingdom  ' ' 
before  the  Reformation. 

St  Margaret  had  found  a  weeping,  disconso- 
late mother  standing  by  the  door  of  a  rude  dwell- 
ing in  the  wood.  Her  child  was  within,  ill — 
dying  perhaps,  and  she  had  nothing  to  give  him, 
neither  food  nor  medicine.  The  illness  was 
infectious — the  plague  it  might  be — and  the 
terrified  neighbours  fled  at  the  poor  mother's 
approach,  leaving  her  quite  alone  in  her  trouble. 
She  told  the  Queen  between  her  sobs  that  none 
would  enter  her  cottage,  but  St  Margaret  had  no 
fear  for  herself  and  went  in  without  any  hesita- 
tion. She  soothed  the  child  and  comforted  the 
mother  and  left  them  both  comparatively  happy, 
promising  to  send  help  at  once  and  also  plenty  of 
food  and  medicine.  At  the  Tower  she  found  all 


86  ST    MARGARET 

she  wanted  except  a  messenger,  for  rumours  of 
the  infected  hut  in  the  wood  had  gone  abroad  and 
everybody  shrank  back  in  horror  at  the  thought 
of  approaching  it.  The  Queen  would  not  force 
even  a  slave  into  a  position  of  danger,  but  there 
was  at  least  one  person  over  whom  she  had  entire 
control  and  who  never  shirked  a  duty  because  it 
was  disagreeable  or  dangerous.  Not  for  the  first 
time  she  was  her  own  messenger,  setting  out 
alone  on  her  errand  of  mercy,  with  the  heavy 
basket  of  provisions  hidden  by  her  cloak. 

As  she  descended  the  incline  St  Margaret  saw, 
coming  to  meet  her,  King  Malcolm,  accompanied 
by  a  stranger,  evidently  a  new  arrival  from  the 
south,  for  the  Conquest  sent  many  Saxon  nobles 
to  seek  hospitality  at  the  Scottish  Court.  The 
Queen  went  on  but  drew  her  cloak  closer,  to 
cover  more  completely  the  burden  which  she 
carried.  Malcolm  guessed  that  she  was  on  some 
charitable  errand,  and  nothing  loth  to  give  his 
guest  an  example  of  his  sweet  wife's  goodness, 
he  playfully  asked  what  she  carried  in  the  folds 
of  her  cloak.  "Woodland  flowers,  perhaps," 
he  said,  with  a  smile  of  superior  knowledge,  while 


PROTECTRESS  OF  THE  POOR     87 

his  courteous  companion  hastened  to  improve  the 
occasion  by  telling  him  that  the  Queen  herself 
was     the     fairest     flower     of     the     woodland. 
Malcolm's    hand    was    on    her    cloak    and    she 
breathed  a  prayer  to  our  Lord  that  He  would 
help  her.     Her  charities  were  His  secrets  and  in 
her    humility    she    would    fain    escape    human 
praise.     It  was  but  an  instant — the  folds  of  the 
mantle  were  gently  drawn  aside  and  lo !  there 
was  revealed  a  basket  filled  with  fresh  woodland 
flowers.     Canmore  and  his  friend  took  leave  of 
the  Queen  and  passed  on  to  the  Tower,  while 
St  Margaret  pursued  her  way  to  the  cottage  and 
the  sick  child.     The  poor  mother  found  some- 
thing more  substantial  than  wild  flowers  in  the 
basket  and  the  good  Queen  left  her  comforted 
and  grateful  and  full  of  hope  for  the  future. 
Meanwhile,  the  King  had  been  apprised  of  the 
purpose  of  St  Margaret's  walk  in  the  woods  for 
her  attendants  were  already  ashamed  of  their 
cowardice.     He  kept  his  own  counsel  when  he 
heard  of  the  Queen's  burden,  but  he  was  very 
serious  and  thoughtful  when  she  returned  and 
his  eyes  glowed  with  love  and  veneration  as  often 


88  ST    MARGARET 

as  they  rested  on  her  fair  face  with  its  halo  of 
golden  hair.  Is  the  story  true?  We  do  not 
know.  It  easily  may  be,  for  God's  Hand  was 
not  shortened  by  the  passing  of  eleven  centuries. 
The  same  power  that  could  change  water  into 
wine  at  Cana  could  change  food  into  wild  flowers 
and  wild  flowers  into  food  again  at  Dunfermline 
if  Christ  so  willed. 


CHAPTER  VI 

ST  MARGARET,  QUEEN  OF  SCOTLAND 

ST  MARGARET'S  prayers  and  works  of  mercy 
filled  so  much  of  her  day  that  there  would  appear 
room  for  little  else,  but  her  secular  duties  were 
certainly  not  neglected.  When  we  read  of  them 
first,  we  wonder  how  the  good  Queen  found  any 
time  for  prayer.  Household  business  alone  was 
considerable  where  there  was  so  much  teaching 
and  training  to  be  done.  Habits  of  order  and 
even  of  cleanliness  had  to  be  acquired  by 
St  Margaret's  domestics,  and  it  was  not  the  work 
of  a  day  to  make  her  staff  realise  what  she 
expected  of  them.  It  is  easy  to  tell  in  a  few 
words  that  she  effected  a  transformation  at 
court,  the  civilising  and  refining  influence  of 
which  went  out  wave  after  wave,  over  the  length 
and  breadth  of  Scotland,  but  the  transition 

89 


9o  ST    MARGARET 

period  must  have  been  a  time  of  arduous  labour, 
thoughtful  planning  and  constant  tact.  The 
work  was  not  accomplished  either,  by  the  mere 
giving  of  orders.  Those  who  teach  and  train 
others  must  be  capable  of  giving  object  lessons 
and  showing  that  what  they  require,  can  be  done. 
As  time  went  on  the  Queen  procured  helpers 
from  England  and  other  parts  of  Europe,  and 
less  actual  work  was  needed  on  her  own  part,  but 
all  her  life  she  accustomed  herself  to  daily  tasks 
of  lowly  helpfulness.  These  humble  deeds 
never  took  from  her  dignity,  but  they  acquired 
dignity  of  their  own  because  she  did  them. 
Every  womanly  act  of  hers  was  a  queenly  act  in 
the  highest  sense.  Besides  her  orphanage  and 
poor  people,  St  Margaret  had  a  hospital  under 
her  roof  into  which  she  gathered  all  the  infirm 
poor  who  could  not  be  treated  properly  in  their 
own  wretched  homes.  Many  of  her  patients, 
owing  to  neglect  and  dirt,  were  covered  with 
loathsome  sores  and  horrible  diseases  of  the  skin, 
and  these  were  the  good  Queen's  favourites. 
She  would  dress  their  wounds  herself  with 
wonderful  gentleness  and  tenderness,  kissing  the 


QUEEN  OF  SCOTLAND  91 

foul  sores  as  she  cleansed  and  bound  them  up. 
It  was  easy  for  the  poor  sufferers  to  believe  in 
the  loving  goodness  and  mercy  of  God  when 
they  saw  this  beautiful  earthly  Queen  moving 
about  among  them  like  an  angel  of  love  and 
mercy. 

Very  early  in  their  married  life  Queen 
Margaret  began  to  advise  and  help  her  husband 
in  the  government  of  his  kingdom,  and  its  con- 
solidation was  as  much  due  to  her  tact  as  to  his 
vigour,  for  men  yielded  to  her  gentle  persuasion, 
when  they  would  have  resisted  to  the  death,  at 
Malcolm's  stern  demand.  During  the  King's 
frequent  absences  on  war  intent,  all  looked  to  the 
good  Queen  for  guidance  and  help  and  it  was 
part  of  her  daily  business  to  hear  petitions  and 
complaints  from  every  part  of  the  country.  In 
order  that  access  to  her  might  be  easier, 
St  Margaret  frequently  sat  in  an  open  field  that 
all  might  be  encouraged  to  approach  and  speak 
freely.  An  eighteenth  century  life  tells  us  that 
according  to  constant  tradition,  the  stone  by 
which  she  rested  when  she  first  came  to  Dun- 
fermline,  was  her  favourite  seat  of  justice. 


92  ST    MARGARET 

St  Margaret's  Stone  is  rather  more  than  a  mile 
from  Dunfermline  Tower,  but  the  good  Queen 
walked  and  rode  many  a  mile  in  the  cause  of 
justice  and  mercy. 

Law-making  in  Scotland  was  yet  primitive  in 
Canmore's  time,  and  when  laws  were  made  they 
were  often  of  little  avail  owing  to  faulty  adminis- 
tration. Wrongs,  real  or  imaginary,  were 
numerous,  and  who  was  to  settle  disputes  and 
assign  blame  and  punishment  to  the  guilty? 
Sometimes  public  officials  were  in  fault,  some- 
times private  individuals,  but  the  only  chance  of 
redress  lay  in  petitioning  the  King.  Malcolm 
put  all  these  matters  into  St  Margaret's  hands, 
and  oftentimes  she  spent  several  hours  of  the  day 
hearing  the  grievances  of  the  poor.  An  artist 
might  find  in  the  scene  a  fitting  subject  for  a 
picture  :  the  background  of  hill  and  forest  and 
picturesque  Tower,  and  the  green  slopes  near 
Dunfermline,  peopled  for  the  time  being,  from 
the  great  stone  to  the  silver  sea  far  below,  with 
all  who  had  tales  of  want  and  wrong  to  tell. 
The  setting  would  be  worthy  of  its  central  figure 
— the  beautiful  fair-haired  Queen,  resplendent  in 


QUEEN    OF  SCOTLAND  93 

her  shining  robes,  seated  on  her  rocky  throne 
and  bending  low  to  listen  with  tender  pity  to  a 
story  of  misery  and  suffering. 

St  Margaret  employed  agents  of  ability  and 
fidelity  in  this  business,  sending  them  all  over 
Scotland  to  inquire  into  cases  of  distress  that  had 
been  reported  to  her,  and  to  report  on  others 
which  they  might  discover  while  on  their  rounds. 
It  was  their  duty  to  see  that  the  Queen's  instruc- 
tions were  carried  out  and  effect  given  to  her 
judgments. 

The  work  was  good  in  itself,  but  it  was  more 
important  still  as  a  foundation  on  which  others 
could  build.  David  I.,  St  Margaret's  wise  and 
saintly  son,  improved  very  considerably  on  her 
methods  when  he  came  to  the  throne.  He 
appointed  a  judge  or  sheriff  over  each  county 
whose  duty  it  was  to  decide  all  cases  in  the 
King's  name.  David  himself,  however,  was 
always  ready,  as  his  mother  had  been,  to  give 
personal  attention  to  the  complaints  and  petitions 
of  the  lowly  ones  of  his  kingdom.  He  was  in  the 
habit  of  sitting  at  his  palace  gates  on  certain 
days  that  he  might  hear  their  cases  and  dea.1 


94  ST    MARGARET 

justly  with  them ;  and  he  considered  it  no 
indignity  when  a  royal  progress  was  interrupted 
in  order  that  some  importunate  old  dame  might 
pour  out  the  tale  of  her  woes  to  the  ' '  protector  of 
the  poor." 

Slavery  was  the  greatest  curse  of  Scotland  in 
the  eleventh  century  and  for  a  long  time  after 
it.  We  can  only  with  difficulty  think  of  our 
ancestors  either  as  slaves  or  as  slave-owners. 
The  desire  of  freedom  for  self  and  others — the 
love  of  independence — is  such  an  integral  part  of 
Scottish  character  as  we  know  it,  that  the  thing 
seems  impossible.  It  is  only  too  true,  however. 
The  evil  began  in  savage  and  pagan  times  when 
the  motto  was  "  Woe  to  the  vanquished,"  and  all 
who  were  on  the  losing  side  in  fight  or  foray 
expected  death  or  bondage  as  a  natural  conse- 
quence of  defeat. 

Christianity  was  everywhere  the  determined 
enemy  of  slavery,  and  as  the  Church  grew  more 
powerful  in  any  country,  slaves  and  slave- 
owners became  fewer  in  number.  St  Columba 
and  his  followers  had  preached  freedom,  but 
when  the  Danes  came,  that  and  many  other 


QUEEN  OF  SCOTLAND  95 

precepts  of  the  Scottish  apostles  were  forgotten. 
St  Margaret  did  much  to  alleviate  the  miseries 
caused  by  slavery  but  she  was  powerless  to 
abolish  it  altogether.  Indeed,  her  fierce  hus- 
band never  went  to  war  without  swelling  the 
ranks  of  the  unfortunate  slaves  by  bringing 
home  a  train  of  captives.  Poor  Queen  Margaret ! 
She  could  only  try  to  help  the  wretched  sufferers 
and  pray  and  hope  for  better  times.  What  now 
of  the  wife's  wishes  being  a  law  to  her  husband  ? 
Ah !  This  was  an  evil  of  long  standing  and 
could  not  be  swept  away  in  a  day  at  the  word  of  a 
gentle  woman.  The  good  Queen  was  prudent 
and  patient  and  did  not  expect  impossibilities,  but 
she  did  what  she  could  in  the  present  and  made 
plans  for  the  future.  St  Margaret  was  always 
willing  to  sow,  in  order  that  others  might  reap. 
Her  desire  was  that  good  should  be  done,  not 
merely  that  she  herself  might  do  it. 

Her  pity  for  the  poor  slaves  was  intense  and 
she  spent  large  sums  of  money  in  ransoming 
them.  Her  agents  were  encouraged  to  bring  her 
news  of  any  specially  hard  cases  and  when  she 
heard  of  one,  she  never  rested  until  she 


96  ST    MARGARET 

found  some  means  of  relieving  the  pool 
creature's  misery.  The  time  was  not  ripe  for 
great  changes,  but  she  could  help  individual 
cases  and  spread  abroad  a  feeling  of  kindly  sym- 
pathy for  the  hard  fate  of  poor  slaves.  Perhaps 
— for  St  Margaret  had  occasional  glimpses  of  the 
future — she  may  have  been  comforted  and 
encouraged  by  a  foreknowledge  of  the  better 
state  of  things  that  her  own  reforms  would 
gradually  bring  about. 

Through  St  Margaret's  efforts,  and  those  of 
her  children,  the  Church  became  a  power  in  the 
land,  and  as  religion  spread  abroad,  slavery 
declined.  It  was  not,  however,  until  after  the 
wars  of  Scottish  Independence  in  the  thirteenth 
and  fourteenth  centuries  that  serfdom,  as  it  was 
called,  ceased  to  exist.  Many  slaves  obtained 
their  freedom  for  services  rendered  to  their 
country  during  the  war,  and  others  fled  to  the 
towns  in  the  frequent  periods  of  confusion. 
They  became  free  if  they  could  elude  the 
vigilance  of  their  late  masters  for  a  year  and  a 
day ;  and  it  was  comparatively  easy  to  do  so ;  for 
search  was  difficult  and  the  escaped  slave  could 


QUEEN   OF  SCOTLAND  97 

always  count  on  the  sympathy  and  help  of 
neighbours. 

When  Scotland  settled  down  to  something  like 
peace,  after  the  Battle  of  Bannockburn,  serfdom 
was  discredited  and  dying,  and,  chiefly  owing  to 
the  determined  efforts  of  the  Church,  there  was 
scarcely  a  trace  of  it  left  at  the  beginning  of  the 
fifteenth  century. 

External  work  never  took  Queen  Margaret's 
attention  from  the  ' '  sweet  ordering  ' '  of  her  own 
household.  She  had  to  form  a  court  for  herself 
and  soon  gathered  around  her  some  of  the  noblest 
matrons  and  maidens  in  Scotland.  It  was  a  new 
and  wonderful  experience  for  the  chosen  ones, 
for  they  were  the  first  ladies-in-waiting  to  grace 
a  Scottish  court.  The  Queen  was  strict  with 
her  women  and  took  care  that  they  had  plenty  of 
occupation.  She  taught  them  needlework  and 
embroidery,  and  under  her  supervision  they 
made  exquisite  vestments  for  use  in  Dunferm- 
line  and  other  churches. 

Until  the  Reformation,  work  of  this  kind  was 
at  once  the  chief  occupation  and  recreation  of 
both  English  and  Scottish  ladies.  It  was  a 

G 


98  ST    MARGARET 

labour  of  love,  and  while  the  fingers  were  active, 
in  order  that  God  might  be  honoured  more 
becomingly,  the  hearts  of  the  workers  were 
drawn  closer  to  Him. 

"  Ye  lovely  ladyes 
With  youre  longe  fyngres 
That  ye  have  silk  and  sandel 
To  sowe  when  tyme  is 
Chesibles  for  chapelyres 
Churches  to  honour." 

St  Margaret  encouraged  innocent  mirth  and 
gaiety  among  her  "  lovely  ladyes  "  while  they 
plied  the  needle  with  their  "  longe  fyngres,"  but 
she  could  not  tolerate  levity  or  frivolity.  The 
chronicler  tells  us  that  ' '  in  her  presence  nothing 
unseemly  was  ever  done  or  uttered."  Yet  it 
does  not  appear  that  the  royal  lady  used  any 
stronger  measures  to  secure  this  good  behaviour 
than  her  own  example  and  the  sweet  strength  of 
character  which  made  her  mere  presence  a  com- 
pelling force  for  good.  "  The  Queen,"  says 
Turgot,  "  united  so  much  strictness  with  her 
sweetness  of  temper,  so  great  pleasantness  even 
with  her  severity  that  all  who  waited  upon  her — 


QUEEN   OF   SCOTLAND  99 

men  as  well  as  women — loved  her,  while  they 
feared  her,  and  in  fearing,  loved  her." 

St  Margaret's  maids  of  honour  were  especially 
devoted  to  her  and  evidently  as  eager  to  learn  as 
their  mistress  was  to  teach.  Her  reforms  met 
with  remarkably  little  opposition  or  criticism 
from  any  quarter,  but  there  seems  to  have  been 
none  at  all  from  womankind.  The  good  Queen 
claimed  and  obtained  for  women  of  every  degree 
a  position  of  honour  and  respect,  such  as  had  not 
been  known  in  Scotland  until  her  coming;  and 
opened  out  before  their  astonished  and  delighted 
eyes  new  possibilities  of  usefulness  and  happi- 
ness and  goodness.  They  on  their  part  admired 
and  loved  their  royal  mistress.  Many  esteemed 
her  a  saint  and  revered  her  accordingly,  and  all 
were  glad  and  willing  to  have  their  ideals  of  life 
raised  and  ennobled.  No  jealousy  appears  to 
have  interfered  in  any  way  with  the  Queen's 
household  reforms. 

As  time  went  on  Queen  Margaret  became  the 
mother  of  six  sons  and  two  daughters,  and  the 
care  of  these  royal  children  was  not  the  lightest 
of  her  many  burdens.  King  Malcolm,  occupied 


ioo  ST  MARGARET 

with  a  thousand  duties  of  state,  left  his  wife  to 
order  the  young  lives  of  their  children  and  make 
such  arrangements  regarding  education  as  she 
thought  fit.  He  knew  that  this  important 
matter  was  safe  in  the  hands  of  his  saintly 
Queen. 

Tutors  were  engaged  for  the  young  princes  as 
soon  as  they  were  old  enough  to  profit  by  con- 
tinuous teaching,  and  St  Margaret  took  care  that 
these  should  be  men  of  piety  as  well  as  of  learn- 
ing. The  two  princesses  were  taught  for  the 
most  part  by  the  Queen  herself,  and  she  care- 
fully supervised  the  religious  instruction  of  all 
her  children.  Some  writers  lay  stress  on  her 
strictness,  but  the  royal  children  seem  to  have 
thriven  on  it.  They  loved  their  mother 
devotedly  while  she  lived,  and  after  her  death 
they  reverenced  her  as  a  saint. 

Convinced  as  St  Margaret  was  of  the  necessity 
of  ' '  dying  daily  ' '  there  was  naturally  no  foolish 
fondness  or  indulgence  about  her  methods.  She 
would  have  her  boys — yes,  and  her  girls — able  to 
conquer  and  control  themselves  and  to  do  their 
duty  readily,  courageously  and  cheerfully,  even 


QUEEN  OF  SCOTLAND  101 

when  it  was  not  agreeable.  "  Teach  them  above 
all  things  to  love  and  fear  God  ' '  was  her  parting 
injunction  to  the  Confessor  she  trusted  most,  and 
this  was  always  her  own  most  important  lesson 
for  her  children. 

Results  speak  for  themselves.  St  Margaret's 
sons  and  daughters  grew  up  around  her  to  be  the 
pride  and  hope  of  Scotland.  She  did  not  live  to 
see  how  nobly  they  fulfilled  the  fair  promise  of 
childhood,  but  the  story  of  their  lives  is  the  best 
eulogy  on  her  training. 

They  were  for  the  most  part  distinguished  by 
intellect  and  accomplishments,  and  both  prin- 
cesses were  beautiful  and  made  brilliant  marri- 
ages. High,  however,  as  many  of  them  were 
placed  in  the  world  when  they  reached  manhood 
and  womanhood,  they  are  more  celebrated  for 
goodness  than  for  greatness,  and  this  is  just  what 
their  saintly  mother  desired  for  them.  It  was  no 
hard  and  severe  training  in  virtue  that  made  a 
whole  family  delight  in  it  all  their  lives  as  did 
these  princes  and  princesses.  St  Margaret  had 
taught  them  her  own  secret  of  serving  God  for 
love, 


102  ST  MARGARET 

In  after  years  three  of  St  Margaret's  sons 
became  in  turn  kings  of  Scotland  and  they  were 
among  her  best  and  ablest  rulers.  '  No 
history,"  says  William  of  Malmesbury,  "  has 
recorded  three  kings  and  brothers  who  were  of 
equal  sanctity  and  savoured  so  much  of  their 
mother's  piety."  David  I.  especially  did  great 
things  for  his  country.  With  all  his  mother's 
zeal  for  the  beauty  of  God's  House,  he  covered 
Scotland  with  fine  churches,  including  those  of 
Holy  rood,  Melrose  and  Jedburgh.  He  encour- 
aged learning  and  desired  that  boys  of  every 
degree  in  life  should  frequent  the  monastery 
schools  even  though  they  were  not  destined  for 
the  priesthood.  He  improved  trade  and  com- 
merce and  made  good  laws,  but  better  still,  he 
made  arrangements  to  secure  that  old  laws 
should  be  better  kept.  In  his  day  "the  key 
could  keep  the  castle,  an'  the  bracken  bush  the 
coo,"  and  that  was  a  good  deal  in  those  wild 
times.  The  first  James  of  Scotland,  the  Poet- 
King,  who  lost  his  life  through  his  zeal  in  trying 
to  get  similar  order  in  his  own  day,  said  of  David 
tha.t  he  was  "  a  sair  sanct  for  the  Croon." 


QUEEN  OF  SCOTLAND  103 

Poor  James,  with  his  almost  empty  treasury,  the 
result  of  his  long  exile  in  England,  thought  wist- 
fully of  the  money  that  his  pious  ancestor  had 
spent  in  church-building.  All  the  same  the 
words  were  said  more  for  the  sake  of  their  wit 
than  for  the  thought  they  expressed,  for  James  I. 
was  clever  enough  to  see  and  appreciate  King 
David's  work.  He  had  continued  St  Margaret's 
system  of  reform  and  construction,  and  besides 
being  a  saint,  he  was  a  good  friend  to  Scotland, 
and  one  of  the  best  kings  who  ever  sat  on  a  Scot- 
tish throne. 


CHAPTER  VII 

ST  MARGARET  AND  EDINBURGH 

MALCOLM  CANMORE  was  the  first  king  of  Scotland 
to  use  Edinburgh  Castle  as  a  royal  residence  and 
most  writers  give  the  credit  of  the  wisdom  and 
foresight  of  his  choice  to  Queen  Margaret.  The 
great  strength  of  the  fortress  on  the  rock,  no  less 
than  its  position  in  the  valley  between  the  two 
main  parts  of  his  kingdom,  made  Edinburgh  an 
ideal  station  for  such  a  monarch  as  Malcolm 
whose  chief  work  was  to  unite  the  Celts  of  the 
north  and  the  Saxons  of  the  south  into  one 
compact  Scottish  people. 

Edinburgh  Castle  stands  on  a  magnificent 
rock  443  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea  and 
history  does  not  reach  backwards  to  a  time  when 
it  did  not  exist  in  some  form.  In  the  misty  ages 
of  the  past  it  was  the  abode  of  primitive  prin- 
cesses, daughters  of  Pictish  kings.  They  were 

104 


[  To  face  page  105. 


ST  MARGARET  AND  EDINBURGH     105 

placed  in  this  fortress  for  safety  in  those  wild 
days  and  many  of  them  never  left  it,  but  spent 
their  entire  lives  in  solitary  state — of  a  kind — 
probably  bewailing  the  elevation,  literal  as  well 
as  metaphorical,  which  condemned  them  to  such 
isolation. 

In  the  seventh  century  the  Northumbrian 
Edwin  forced  the  stronghold  out  of  the  hands  of 
the  Picts,  and  strengthened  its  fortifications  to 
suit  his  own  requirements.  Even  in  his  day  it 
was  called  the  Maidens'  Castle  (Castrum 
puellarum),  and  it  does  not  seem  clear  whether 
the  name  Edinburgh,  given  to  the  cluster  of 
habitations  which  soon  began  to  grow  more  and 
more  visible  on  the  only  sloping  ridge  of  the  rock, 
is  a  corruption  of  Edwin's  Burgh  or  of  Maidens' 
Burgh. 

The  Maidens'  Castle  in  the  eleventh  century 
was  surrounded  by  dense  forests  broken  in  parts 
by  rising  ground  covered  with  gorse;  and  the 
crests  of  green  hills  met  the  southern  skies  then 
as  now.  In  the  forest  land,  wild  beasts  unknown 
in  our  modern  Scottish  woods,  roamed  about  in 
considerable  numbers.  There  were  wolves  a,nd[ 


106  ST  MARGARET 

boars  and  great  white  bulls,  the  descendants, 
perhaps,  of  some  of  the  flower-bedecked  victims 
slaughtered  of  old  by  the  Druids  in  their  sacri- 
fices. At  an  earlier  period  there  were  bears  also 
in  the  woods  of  Caledonia,  but  probably  the  last 
of  the  race  had  died  out  before  the  days  of 
St  Margaret. 

The  district  was,  and  is,  well-watered. 
Streams  are  numerous  though  there  is  no  river  of 
great  importance  nearer  than  the  Forth,  and  in 
the  hollow  which  is  now  the  beautiful  West 
Princes  Street  Gardens,  there  was  an  extensive 
sheet  of  water  known  for  centuries  as  the 
Nor'  Loch. 

For  two  years  after  their  marriage  Malcolm 
Canmore  and  his  queen  lived  almost  entirely  at 
Dunfermline,  and  their  eldest  son  was  born  in 
the  Tower.  In  1072  they  went  to  Edinburgh  for 
the  first  time  and  after  this  date  the  Castle  be- 
came a  frequently  inhabited  residence,  though 
the  royal  family  always  loved  Dunfermline  and 
generally  spent  some  part  of  the  year  there. 
Queen  Margaret's  sister,  the  Princess  Christina, 
soon  returned  to  England  to  enter  a  convent  as 


ST  MARGARET  AND  EDINBURGH     107 

she  had  always  desired  to  do,  but  Edgar  the 
Atheling,  as  he  continued  to  be  called,  remained 
at  the  Scottish  court  much  longer.  He  hoped 
against  hope  that  with  Malcolm's  assistance  he 
would  at  last  ascend  the  English  throne,  just  as 
Malcolm  had  mounted  the  Scottish  throne  with 
English  aid.  Malcolm  did  his  best  for  the 
realisation  of  his  brother-in-law's  hopes,  but  the 
odds  against  poor  Edgar  were  too  great,  and  it 
began  to  be  evident  that  the  Normans  had  come 
to  stay. 

The  Scottish  king  twice  gave  Edgar  Atheling 
a  princely  outfit,  including  "  golden  and  silver 
vessels  ' '  and  at  last  he  persuaded  him  to  give  up 
his  hopeless  pretensions  to  the  throne  of  England 
and  submit  to  William.  How  readily  the 
Conqueror  made  friends  with  his  weak  rival 
appears  from  the  fact  that  we  soon  hear  of  Edgar 
as  using  his  influence  with  the  Normans  to 
procure  easier  terms  for  his  brother-in-law, 
brought  to  bay  at  Abernethy ;  and  later  as  being 
in  a  position  to  befriend  his  orphaned  nephews 
and  nieces.  The  Atheling  appears  to  have  taken 
part  in  the  Crusade  with  Robert  of  Normandy  at 


io8  ST  MARGARET 

a  later  period,  but  misfortune  attended  him  in 
that  as  in  most  of  his  enterprises,  and  his  end  is 
hidden  in  obscurity. 

When  St  Margaret  first  went  to  Edinburgh 
there  was  small  promise  of  its  developing  into  the 
beautiful  city  that  is  "  Scotia's  darling  seat  " 
to-day.  It  consisted  of  a  few  habitations  on  the 
eastern  slope  of  the  rock — wretched  huts,  most  of 
them — with  walls  of  wattle  and  roofs  thatched 
with  heather.  Two  little  churches  were  similarly 
constructed — St  Cuthbert's,  close  to  the  rock  and 
St  Giles'  at  the  edge  of  the  forest.  The  names 
remain,  but  the  faith  of  the  worshippers  has 
changed. 

Neither  St  Cuthbert's  nor  St  Giles'  was 
convenient  for  Queen  Margaret  with  her  ever 
growing  court  and  her  colony  of  Saxon  refugees, 
and  she  had  a  third  small  church  built  for  herself 
on  the  summit  of  the  crag.  Stone  instead  of 
wattle  was  used  in  its  construction,  and,  though 
nearly  nine  hundred  years  old,  it  is  still  in  a  state 
of  excellent  preservation.  Some  say  that  the 
little  building  is  complete,  and  others,  that  it  is 
only  a  fragment  of  a  larger  church, 


ST  MARGARET  AND  EDINBURGH    109 

In  all  probability  we  shall  never  know  which 
view  is  the  correct  one.  St  Margaret's  Chapel  is 
the  name  by  which  it  was  known  before  the 
Reformation  and  by  which  it  is  again  known  in 
twentieth  century  and  its  earlier  dedication  in  the 
Saint's  lifetime  is  forgotten.  It  may  have  been 
St  Margaret's  then  also  for  the  good  Queen  had 
a  tender  devotion  to  her  own  name-saint  and 
patron,  St  Margaret,  the  virgin-martyr  of 
France. 

After  the  change  of  religion  in  Scotland, 
St  Margaret's  Chapel  was  put  to  base  uses,  and 
its  antiquity  and  former  glory  were  forgotten. 
About  the  year  1850  it  was  discovered  by  some 
members  of  the  Antiquarian  Society  and 
declared  to  be  a  treasure.  The  garrison  had  been 
using  it  as  a  store-house  for  ammunition,  but  a 
transformation  was  soon  effected.  By  command 
of  Queen  Victoria,  the  oratory  was  restored  in 
1853  and  it  is  now  one  of  the  chief  objects  of 
interest  on  the  Castle  Hill. 

The  three  small  windows  are  filled  with  stained 
glass,  one  representing  St  Margaret  and  the 
other  two,  Malcolm  Canmore  and  St  David,  King 


no  ST  MARGARET 

of  Scotland,  the  youngest  son  of  Malcolm  and 
Margaret. 

An  ancient  legend  tells  that  in  this  chapel  St 
Margaret  was  favoured  with  one  of  the  wonderful 
glimpses  into  the  future  with  which  God  seems  to 
have  gifted  her  on  several  occasions .  She  saw  how 
the  beloved  country  of  her  adoption  would  have  to 
suffer  fom  England  in  the  centuries  to  come,  and 
she  also  saw  its  final  triumph  when  her  own  des- 
cendants would  secure  its  independence.  On  the 
wall  of  the  chapel  after  this  marvellous  experience, 
she  caused  a  painting  to  be  made  of  a  man  scaling 
a  rock  and  under  the  picture  she  had  the  words 
inscribed  "  Gardez-vous  Francois." 

In  1312  when  Robert  the  Bruce  began  his 
work  of  recovering  the  Scottish  castles  from 
English  hands,  it  was  a  man  named  Francis  who 
led  Randolph  and  his  party  of  picked  men  up  the 
face  of  the  cliff  to  surprise  the  English  garrison. 
The  story  has  often  been  told  of  Randolph's 
ambition  to  take  Edinburgh  Castle  and  of  the 
coming  of  Francis  with  his  daring  plan.  He  had 
lived  in  the  Castle  as  a  boy,  he  told  Randolph, 
and  had  often  used  the  rock  as  a  means  of  exit 


ST  MARGARET  AND  EDINBURGH     in 

and  entrance,  to  elude  the  vigilance  of  a  too  strict 
father.  It  seemed  a  rash  adventure  and  it  might 
easily  be  a  trap,  but  "  nothing  venture,  nothing 
win,"  and  Randolph  listened  and  resolved  to  try 
it.  He  could  but  die  in  the  service  of  his  country 
and  Randolph  would  gladly  have  given  his  life  to 
set  Scotland  free.  He  was  himself  a  descendant 
of  St  Margaret  for  his  mother  was  the  sister  of 
Robert  the  Bruce. 

As  the  gallant  party  crept  up  the  cliff  on  hands 
and  knees  and  in  single  file  they  were  nearly 
undone.  An  English  soldier  on  duty  above  was 
bidding  a  friend  good  night  and  seeking  to  scare 
him,  in  rude  pleasantry  he  threw  a  stone  down 
the  rock,  at  the  same  time  exclaiming  "  Ha !  I 
see  you  there."  The  stone  struck  several  of  the 
brave  Scots  as  it  bounded  down  the  cliff  and  if 
one  had  made  a  movement  all  would  have  found 
their  death  then  and  there.  But  they  remained 
silent  and  still,  as  the  masses  of  rock  around 
them  and  the  friendly  darkness  concealed  them, 
for  it  was  night.  With  a  loud  laugh  at  his  own 
joke  the  English  soldier  passed  on  but  he  was  to 
laugh  no  more. 


ii2  ST  MARGARET 

Randolph's  attack  was  entirely  successful  and 
Bruce,  with  Edinburgh  Castle  his  own,  was 
encouraged  to  continue  the  struggle  which  ended 
so  gloriously  two  years  later,  on  the  field  of 
Bannockburn.  St  Margaret's  prediction  was  still 
remembered  in  1312,  and  people  looked  on  the 
feat  of  Francis  as  its  accomplishment,  and 
reminded  each  other  that  Randolph,  the  hero, 
was  of  their  dear  Saint's  kith  and  kin. 

Saxons  came  in  great  numbers  to  the  Scottish 
court  during  the  first  troubled  years  of  the 
Conqueror's  reign.  They  found  a  warm  friend 
in  Malcolm  Canmore,  who  remembered  his  own 
exile  and  the  kindness  shown  to  him  in  England, 
and  the  Queen,  of  course,  was  their  country- 
woman and  had  fled  as  they  were  doing  from 
Norman  tyranny.  Many  of  the  English  nobles, 
weary  of  the  struggle  and  unable  to  bend  their 
wills  and  submit  to  the  arrogance  of  their  foreign 
rulers,  were  ready  to  cast  in  their  lot  for  good 
with  their  northern  friends;  and  to  these  the 
Scottish  king  gave  large  grants  of  land  in  the 
south  and  east  of  Scotland.  Some  of  our  most 
important  Lowland  families  owe  their  foundation 


ST  MARGARET  AND  EDINBURGH    113 

to  these  Saxon  exiles.  Among  them  are  the 
houses  of  Lyndesay,  Vaux,  Crichton,  Maxwell, 
Leslie  and  Borthwick,  all  of  which  were  estab- 
lished in  Scotland  in  the  reign  of  Malcolm 
Canmore  and  St  Margaret. 

There  were  other  refugees,  too,  men  and 
women  of  lower  degree,  who  came  north  in  the 
following  of  those  who  had  been  their  lords  in 
happier  times.  These  were  skilled  in  various 
crafts  and  industries,  and  the  good  Queen,  ever 
on  the  alert  to  benefit  her  people,  set  the 
strangers  to  work  to  teach  others  what  they  them- 
selves had  learnt.  This  was  the  origin  of  more 
than  one  Scottish  industry,  and  notably  that  of 
the  linen  manufacture  of  Dunfermline,  Queen 
Margaret's  favourite  home. 

The  Queen  encouraged  learning  also,  and  she 
found  among  her  exiles  many  capable  men  and 
women  who  were  eager  to  help  her  in  her  good 
work.  Thus  she  made  use  of  every  opportunity 
of  improving  the  condition  of  her  people,  and 
slowly  but  surely  the  work  of  civilisation  went 
on.  It  is  believed  that  St  Margaret  built  a  palace 

as  well  as  a  chapel  on  the  Castle  rock,  but  the 

H 


ii4  ST  MARGARET 

great  buildings  of  her  sons  and  of  her  later 
descendants,  the  Stewart  kings,  make  it  impos- 
sible to  identify  any  of  the  parts  existing  at  her 
time,  if,  indeed,  any  still  remain. 

Several  of  St  Margaret's  children  were  born  in 
Edinburgh,  and  the  work  of  their  education  was 
partly  carried  on  there.  As  at  Dunfermline 
St  Margaret  had  her  orphans,  her  sick  and  her 
poor,  and  as  soon  as  her  daughters  were  old 
enough  she  associated  them  with  her  in  her  works 
of  mercy.  "When  health  and  beauty  were 
hers,"  says  an  ancient  chronicler,  "  she  devoted 
her  strength  to  serve  the  poor  uncultivated  people 
whom  God  had  committed  to  her  care  "  and  this 
was  always  her  work  of  predilection.  The  service 
of  the  poor  was  evidently  made  no  hard  task  to 
the  little  princesses.  They  were  taught  to  love  it 
and  hold  it  in  honour  for  Christ's  sake  as  their 
holy  mother  herself  did,  and,  young  as  they  were 
when  they  lost  her,  they  remembered  and  profited 
by  the  lessons  she  had  given  them.  "  The  good 
Queen  Maud,"  as  the  English  people  named  the 
elder  princess,  when  many  years  later  she  was 
their  honoured  queen,  was  only  second  to 


MARGARET  AND  EDINBURGH    115 

St  Margaret  herself  in  queenly  works  of  charity 
and  mercy. 

The  forests  around  Edinburgh  Castle  gradually 
disappeared  as  the  trees  were  cut  down  to  make 
way  for  more  dwellings,  and  among  the  people  of 
the  little  hamlet  the  good  Queen  was  well  known. 
She  was  the  angel  of  mercy  who  brought  help  in 
time  of  need  and  who  was  ever  ready  with 
sympathy  and  kindly  words  to  make  affliction 
endurable.  She  helped  the  poor  to  live  and  made 
life  nobler  and  brighter  for  them.  In  their  sick- 
ness she  tended  them  and  taught  them  how  to  die, 
and  often  she  was  there  at  the  deathbed,  however 
lowly,  to  close  the  eyes  of  the  dead  and  to  comfort 
those  left  mourning.  For  hundreds  of  years  after 
St  Margaret's  own  happy  death,  "the  good 
Queen  "  was  a  household  word  among  the  people 
of  Scotland. 

Queen  Margaret  had  a  great  devotion  to 
St  Catherine  of  Alexandria,  and  a  story  in  con- 
nection with  it  has  come  down  to  us.  After 
St  Catherine's  martyrdom,  her  sacred  body 
remained  in  Egypt  until  the  eighth  century.  It 
was  then  discovered  by  the  Christians  and  after  a 


n6  ST  MARGARET 

time  was  translated  to  the  great  monastery  built 
by  St  Helen  on  Mount  Sinai.  The  relics  were 
greatly  treasured  by  the  monks,  as  was  also  a 
quantity  of  miraculous  oil  in  some  way  connected 
with  them.  Queen  Margaret  had  heard  of  this 
oil  and  was  so  desirous  of  possessing  some  of  it 
that  she  earnestly  besought  St  Catherine  to  make 
it  possible.  The  legend  tells  how  her  prayer  was 
granted.  Queen  Margaret  was  assured  by 
St  Catherine  that  God  had  given  her  the  favour 
asked  for,  and  that  a  messenger  also  named 
Catherine,  was  already  on  her  way  to  Scotland 
with  the  oil. 

After  many  perils  by  land  and  sea,  this 
Catherine  at  length  reached  Liberton,  and  stood 
on  its  green  heights  to  look  on  St  Margaret's 
home,  the  goal  of  her  toilsome  journey. 

Her  heart  swelled  with  emotion  and  forgetting 
her  precious  charge  she  suddenly  threw  out  both 
her  arms  towards  the  Castle  on  the  rock.  Crash  ! 
The  vessel  lay  in  fragments  on  the  stony  ground 
and  the  oil  was  fast  disappearing  in  the  earth. 
Catherine  fell  on  her  knees  in  an  agony  of  self- 
reproach  and  watched  the  thirsty  soil  drinking  in 


ST  MARGARET  AND  EDINBURGH     117 

her  treasure.  Lo  !  As  she  gazed  a  spring  burst 
forth  from  the  spot  and  oil  was  floating  on  its 
limpid  water.  So  it  floated  when  St  Margaret 
came  from  Edinburgh  Castle  to  look  at  it,  and  so 
it  floats  still.  Anyone  may  see  it  who  cares  to 
visit  the  Balm  Well  of  St  Catherine  at  Liberton. 

Crowds  of  sufferers  visited  St  Catherine's  Well 
in  the  centuries  before  the  Reformation,  and 
marvellous  tales  were  told  of  cures  effected  there. 
The  pious  pilgrim  from  Mount  Sinai  seems 
to  have  spent  the  remainder  of  her  life  near  the 
miraculous  well,  and  a  mound  in  the  neighbour- 
hood was  long  pointed  out  as  St  Catherine's 
grave. 

Queen  Margaret  and  her  children  often  visited 
the  Balm  Well,  and  later  sovereigns  of  Scotland 
did  so  for  her  sake.  One  of  the  Stewart  kings 
erected  a  beautiful  chapel  on  the  height,  and 
dedicated  it  to  his  saintly  ancestress.  This 
"  St  Margaret's  Chapel,"  with  many  other 
treasures  of  a  like  kind,  was  destroyed  at  the 
Reformation. 

James  VI.  of  Scotland,  however,  loved 
St  Catherine's  Well  and  believed  in  its  healing 


n8  ST  MARGARET 

powers,  and,  when  he  came  to  Scotland  after  his 
accession  to  the  English  throne,  he  visited 
Liberton  to  drink  again  of  its  waters.  Touched 
by  the  neglected  appearance  of  the  well,  he  had  it 
railed  in  and  repaired  in  honour  of  St  Margaret, 
and  it  remains  now  probably  much  the  same  as 
when  he  last  saw  it.  There  are  those  living  in 
the  twentieth  century  who  have  found  relief  from 
pain  by  drinking  of  the  waters  of  St  Catherine's 
Well.  It  is  our  Scottish  faith,  and  not 
St  Margaret's  oil,  that  has  grown  weak  with  the 
passing  centuries. 

Two  fountains  in  Edinburgh  bear  the  name  of 
St  Margaret's  Well.  One  is  in  the  Gardens  near 
the  Castle,  and  the  other  in  the  King's  Park, 
south  of  Holy  rood  Palace.  Near  this  second  well, 
with  Arthur's  Seat  high  above  it  and  the  ruins  of 
St  Anthony's  Chapel  on  the  slope  which  forms 
one  of  its  boundaries,  is  a  sheet  of  clear  water 
called  St  Margaret's  Loch.  Outside  the  park 
limits  the  district  is  all  St  Margaret's,  and  the 
names  are  of  ancient  date,  though  there  is  no 
evidence  that  the  good  Queen  travelled  in  this 
direction.  In  her  journeys  between  Edinburgh 


ST  MARGARET  AND  EDINBURGH    119 

and  Fife  she  always  crossed  the  Forth  by  the 
Queen's  Ferry. 

It  was  David  I.,  Queen  Margaret's  youngest 
son,  who  founded  the  Abbey  of  Holy  rood,  and, 
doubtless,  mother  and  son  were  associated 
together  in  the  minds  of  the  people  for  sanctity 
and  generosity  to  their  subjects.  The  old  story 
tells  that  David,  hunting  in  the  forest,  which  then 
extended  from  the  hills  to  the  sea,  was  confronted 
by  a  stag  with  a  cross  between  its  antlers.  The 
stag  was  in  some  mysterious  way  the  bearer  of  a 
divine  message,  and  King  David  built  an  abbey 
on  the  spot  where  it  appeared,  and  named  it 
Holy  Rood. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
ST  MARGARET'S  MISSION 

ST  MARGARET'S  name  is  worthy  of  a  place  among 
the  apostles  of  Scotland  for  she  completed  their 
noble  work  and  repaired  the  edifice  they  had 
built,  when  plunder,  pillage  and  lawlessness  had 
well-nigh  brought  it  to  ruin. 

South  Britain  had  become  entirely  Christian 
by  the  end  of  the  fourth  century,  but  the  wild 
Picts  and  Scots  of  Caledonia  knew  nothing  then 
of  the  sublime  teachings  of  Christ.  It  was  in 
397  A.D.  that  St  Ninian,  Scotland's  first  apostle, 
came  from  Rome  to  evangelise  the  country 
between  the  Sol  way  and  the  Clyde.  A  native  of 
Strathclyde  and  a  Christian  from  his  childhood, 
he  had  been  early  filled  with  the  desire  of  con- 
verting his  fellow-countrymen,  and  distrustful  of 

self,  as  the  saints  ever  are,  he  had  gone  to  the 

1 20 


ST   MARGARET'S   MISSION       121 

city  of  St  Peter  the  better  to  learn  what  he  so 
longed  to  teach  to  others. 

The  gospel  made  good  progress  under  the 
zealous  missionary  and  he  built  at  Whithorn  in 
Galloway,  a  church  of  stone  which  was  known  as 
"  Candida  Casa."  It  was  the  first  Christian 
church  and  also  the  first  stone  building  in 
northern  Britain. 

But  just  as  Christianity  began  to  brighten  the 
country  north  of  the  Solway  it  suffered  an  almost 
total  eclipse  in  south  Britain.  When  the 
barbarian  hordes  of  northern  Europe  came  down 
on  the  Roman  Empire,  it  was  thought  necessary 
to  withdraw  the  Roman  soldiers  from  Britain,  and 
thus  its  people  were  left  to  the  mercy  of  the  Picts 
and  Scots. 

Unused  for  hundreds  of  years  to  defend  them- 
selves, the  Britons  felt  helpless  and  unnerved,  and 
called  for  aid  to  the  wild  tribes  of  Germany — 
Jutes,  Angles  and  Saxons.  The  Germans  came 
and  did  good  service,  but  looking  on  the  fair 
country  for  which  they  were  fighting,  they 
became  enamoured  of  its  beauty  and  resolved  to 
make  it  their  own,  The  Britons,  they  decided, 


122  ST  MARGARET 

were  unworthy  to  possess  what  they  were  unable 
to  defend.  The  Picts  and  Scots  utterly  routed, 
and  driven  back  to  their  strongholds  among  the 
Grampians,  the  Britons  feasted  their  allies  and 
sent  them  away  with  rich  presents  and  joyful 
leave-takings.  Alas  !  Before  many  months  had 
sped  the  German  tribes  appeared  again — allies  no 
longer,  but  enemies.  The  poor  Britons  were 
slaughtered  in  their  homes  or  driven  to  the  hills, 
and  the  Angles  and  Saxons  were  masters  of  the 
country  within  a  few  weeks  of  their  landing. 

Soon  it  was  Britain  no  longer  but  England,  and 
a  pagan  England,  for  the  newcomers  worshipped 
Odin  and  Thor,  and  Christianity  was  expelled 
along  with  the  hapless  Britons. 

Meanwhile,  a  Christian  boy  named  Succat  was 
tending  the  flocks  of  his  father,  the  Roman 
citizen,  Calpurnius,  on  the  banks  of  the  Clyde  in 
North  Britain,  when  a  band  of  marauders  made  a 
raid  on  his  home  and  carried  him  into  captivity. 
He  was  sold  as  a  slave  in  the  north  of  Ireland,  and 
found  himself  again  tending  sheep  with  the  sea 
between  him  and  his  native  land.  Succat  hated 
his  captive  state,  though  he  loved  the  green  land 


ST    MARGARET'S  MISSION       123 

of  his  captivity.  Escaping  at  last,  he  found  his 
way  to  France  and  afterwards  to  Rome.  In  both 
places  rich  and  powerful  friends  awaited  him, 
brilliant  opportunities  were  given  him,  and, 
resolving  to  study  for  the  priesthood,  he  became 
famous  alike  for  zeal  and  piety.  The  Pope  had 
sent  St  Palladius  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the 
Irish,  but  such  was  not  God's  design. 

When  the  slave-boy  was  fleeing  from  the  land 
of  his  captivity  he  had  a  dream  or  vision,  in  which 
the  children  of  Ireland  called  on  him  to  teach 
them  the  faith  of  Christ.  "  Come  back  to  us," 
they  cried.  "  Bring  us  the  glad  tidings."  Years 
had  passed  since  then,  but,  waking  or  sleeping, 
Succat  heard  the  wailing  cry  of  Ireland's 
children,  and  now,  when  the  Pope  found  that 
Palladius  had  failed  in  his  mission,  and  was  dead, 
he  sent  Succat  to  convert  Ireland.  And  so,  with 
the  apostolic  blessing  and  the  name  of  Patrick, 
conferred  on  him  by  the  successor  of  St  Peter, 
the  Apostle  of  Ireland  set  out  on  his  great  mission 
of  love.  He  was  accompanied  by  a  number  of 
priests  and  monks  eager  to  assist  him  in  his  work. 

It  was  early  in  the  fifth  century  that  St  Patrick 


124  ST  MARGARET 

began  his  work  and  never  did  missionary  meet 
with  such  success.  He  had  only  to  speak  in  order 
to  be  obeyed,  and  in  thirty  years  from  his  arrival 
Ireland  was  a  Christian  country  from  north  to 
south  and  from  east  to  west.  St  Patrick  made 
thorough  conversions,  and  succeeding  generations 
named  the  country  of  his  love,  the  ' '  Island  of  the 
Saints." 

It  was  Caledonia  that  gave  St  Patrick  to 
Ireland,  and  before  long  Ireland  returned  the 
favour  in  generous  measure,  giving  not  one  but 
many  missionaries  to  Caledonia.  St  Columba, 
the  first  and  greatest,  was  the  son  of  a  king, 
but  he  is  better  known  as  a  saint  and  an 
apostle.  The  disciple  of  one  of  St  Patrick's 
most  earnest  converts,  he  had  all  the  great 
missionary's  zeal  for  spreading  the  gospel  and  in 
563  A.D.  he  came  to  Caledonia  to  win  his  kindred, 
the  Scots  of  Dalriada,  to  the  faith  of  Christ.  He 
founded  a  monastery  on  lona,  one  of  a  chain  of 
barren  islands  off  the  west  coast  of  Scotland,  and 
gathered  many  disciples  around  him,  men  of 
learning  and  goodness  whose  only  desire  was  to 
serve  God  and  work  for  the  salvation  of  souls. 


ST   MARGARET'S   MISSION       125 

When  the  time  was  ripe,  St  Columba's  monks 
were  sent  north,  south  and  east  to  convert  the 
Picts  and  Scots.  Everywhere  they  met  with 
success,  and  churches  were  built  that  the  Sacrifice 
of  the  Mass  might  be  celebrated  with  due  honour, 
from  the  Orkney  and  Shetland  Islands  in  the 
north  to  Northumbria  in  the  south.  Superstition 
died  hard,  it  is  true,  and  the  Picts,  especially,  often 
relapsed  into  the  excesses  of  their  pagan  days, 
but  slowly  and  surely  the  Cross  triumphed,  and 
idolatry  was  vanquished.  The  Scots  were  nobler 
than  the  Picts  and  more  easily  responded  to  the 
demands  made  upon  their  conduct  by  the 
teaching  of  Christianity.  There  were  drawbacks, 
indeed,  and  it  must  not  be  thought  that 
St  Columba's  work  was  as  easy  in  the  doing,  or  as 
thorough  when  accomplished,  as  St  Patrick's  had 
been.  The  conversion  of  Caledonia  presented 
difficulties  of  various  kinds.  Its  missionaries 
had  to  penetrate  wild  mountain  fastnesses  and 
deep  glens,  to  cross  lakes  and  arms  of  the  sea,  and 
to  preach  to  people  of  many  races  hardened  by 
idolatrous  habits.  The  monks  were  not  numerous 
enough  to  dwell  long  among  their  converts  to  give 


i26  ST  MARGARfi? 

them  all  the  instruction  and  training  they 
required,  and  so  it  happened  that  there  were 
frequent  relapses  into  superstition  and  vice  when 
the  teachers  of  truth  and  virtue  had  passed  on 
their  way. 

Notwithstanding  all  this,  the  good  work  went 
on  with  little  opposition  for  nearly  two  hundred 
years,  and,  as  Christianity  grew  in  strength,  it 
wrought  great  changes  in  northern  Britain.  In 
the  south,  civilisation  had  brought  Christianity, 
but  in  the  north  it  was  Christianity  itself  that 
was  the  civilising  influence.  The  gospel  brought 
peace  and  with  it  desires  for  order  and  settlement. 
Race  differences  became  less  marked ;  hatred 
and  jealousy  were  overcome  for  Christ's  sake,  and 
gradually  the  four  races  which  had  long  struggled 
for  the  mastery  north  of  the  Sol  way,  became  one 
nation. 

Kenneth  Me  Alpine,  crowned  at  Scone  in 
844  A.D.,  was  the  first  king  of  Scots  and  Picts. 
He  was  the  more  readily  accepted  by  both  peoples 
because  his  father  was  a  Scot  and  his  mother  a 
Pict,  but  the  Scots  were  really  in  the  ascendancy, 
and  under  Kenneth's  rule,  the  country  began  to 


ST  MARGARET'S  MISSION       127 

be  called  Scotland.  It  was  not,  however,  till  his 
grandson  Malcolm  II.  routed  the  king  of  the 
Lothians  at  Carham  in  1018,  that  the  Tweed 
became  the  boundary  between  England  and 
Scotland.  Monasteries  soon  arose  on  the  main- 
land as  well  as  on  the  islands,  and  education  began 
to  be  appreciated  and  sought  after.  Every 
monastery  had  its  school,  and  youths  and  men 
were  eager  to  avail  themselves  of  the  oppor- 
tunities thus  given  them.  It  was  the  aim  of  the 
monks  to  train  young  men  and  bring  them  up  in 
piety  and  learning,  that  they  might  carry  on  the 
good  work  in  the  future,  when  their  elders  had 
been  gathered  to  their  reward. 

Meanwhile,  what  of  South  Britain  and  its 
heathen  conquerors?  Everybody  has  heard  the 
pretty  story  of  Father  Gregory  and  the  English 
slaves  in  the  Roman  market-place.  The  monk 
was  in  the  habit  of  receiving  alms  from  rich 
people  and  spending  the  money  in  ransoming 
slaves.  One  day  while  going  about  his  charitable 
work  as  usual,  he  saw,  exposed  for  sale  among  the 
olive-skinned,  dark-haired  children  of  the  South, 
a  group  of  boys  and  girls  of  dazzling  fairness, 


i28  ST  MARGARET 

with  masses  of  golden  hair  curling  about  their 
shoulders,  and  eyes  as  blue  as  the  southern  skies 
in  summer. 

"  Who  are  these  children,"  cried  the  monk  in 
wondering  admiration. 

"  They  are  Angles,"  answered  the  keeper. 

"  Not  Angles,  but  angels,"  was  Father 
Gregory's  quick  reply,  and  straightway  he  regis- 
tered a  vow  that,  God  willing,  he  would  bring  to 
the  nation  of  these  fair  children  the  glad  light  of 
the  gospel  and  the  sweet  teachings  of  the  religion 
of  Christ. 

The  Romans  loved  Father  Gregory  too  well  to 
let  him  go,  and  soon,  as  Pope  Gregory  with  all 
Christendom  to  rule,  he  had  reluctantly  to 
abandon  the  idea  of  ever  himself  seeing  England. 
He  might,  however,  entrust  to  others  the  work 
of  its  conversion  and  he  turned  his  thoughts  to 
the  zealous  monks  in  his  own  dear  monastery. 
Thus  it  happened  that  in  597  A.D.,  the  very  year 
that  St  Columba  died  at  lona,  St  Augustine 
landed  on  the  coast  of  Kent,  sent  by  Pope 
Gregory  with  forty  monks  to  convert  England. 

The  conversion  of  South  Britain  is  not  a  tale  of 


ST  MARGARET'S   MISSION       129 

victory  like  that  of  Ireland.  Successes  and 
failures  followed  each  other  in  bewildering  succes- 
sion, and  often  after  a  whole  district  or  kingdom — 
for  there  were  many  kingdoms  in  England  then 
— had  received  the  true  faith,  it  relapsed  into 
heathenism  under  a  new  king  or  after  a  fierce  war. 

Triumph  came  at  last  and  St  Columba's 
monks,  coming  southward  to  Northumbria  on 
missionary  labours  intent,  met  and  helped  the 
sons  of  St  Augustine  in  their  great  work.  The 
Danes  and  trouble  were  coming  to  England  in  the 
near  future,  but  the  Christianity  brought  by 
St  Augustine  was  never  lost  to  its  people  again 
until  the  days  of  Henry  VIII.  and  the 
Reformation. 

But  we  must  return  to  Scotland.  The  sun 
shone  brightly  there  for  a  space,  and  the  sky 
seemed  blue  and  unclouded,  but  appearances  are 
often  deceptive  and  in  the  distance  a  cloud  was 
forming  that  would  soon  bring  storm  and  disaster. 

The  terrible  Northmen  had  appeared  several 
times  off  the  coast  of  Scotland,  and  in  800  A.D., 
they  came  down  like  a  tempest  on  the  western 
islands.  They  hated  Christianity  and,  always 


1 30  ST  MARGARET 

cruel,  their  fury  raged  most  fiercely  where  they 
found  it.  The  monasteries  of  the  islands, 
including  that  of  lona,  were  soon  but  heaps  of 
smouldering  ruins,  while  monks  and  people  were 
ruthlessly  slaughtered.  In  the  years  of  peace 
that  had  preceded  this  terrible  invasion,  treasures 
had  begun  to  accumulate  at  the  various  shrines, 
through  the  generosity  of  a  devoted  people,  and 
now  money,  sacred  vessels,  everything  of  value 
was  carried  off  by  the  Northmen.  Not  only  did 
they  come,  but  they  remained  and  made  the 
islands  their  own.  Heathenism  reigned  supreme 
again,  and  only  the  blackened  remains  of  church 
and  monastery  were  left  to  tell  that  Christianity 
had  been  there. 

Sometimes  in  the  course  of  the  next  two  cen- 
turies, the  Christians,  encouraged  by  comparative 
peace,  would  gather  together  and  build  a  church, 
but  soon  another  wild  raid  would  leave  the  ashes 
of  church  and  priests  and  people  mingled 
together.  The  last  fierce  slaughter  of  monks  was 
as  late  as  986  A.D. 

The  mainland  as  well  as  the  islands  had  to 
endure  the  incursions  of  the  Northmen.  It  is 


ST   MARGARET'S   MISSION       131 

true,  they  never  secured  a  permanent  footing 
there,  but  religion  suffered  woefully  from  their 
visits.  The  monasteries  and  churches  were  the 
chosen  objects  of  attack,  for  experience  on  the 
islands  had  taught  the  marauders  that  the  sacred 
vessels  of  the  altar  were  the  richest  booty. 
Hundreds  of  devoted  monks  were  slain  and  with 
monasteries,  schools  and  teachers  swept  away, 
there  were  few  capable  of  replacing  them.  The 
blood  of  the  martyrs  is  the  seed  of  the  Church, 
but  seed  grows  slowly.  Scotland  was  to  reap  an 
abundant  harvest  in  the  future,  but  she  had  to 
wait  long  and  suffer  much  before  her  day  of 
rejoicing.  Rome,  the  fountain-head  of  Chris- 
tianity was  far  away — we  can  scarcely  realise 
how  far  in  our  days,  when  trains  and  steamers 
and  postal  and  telegraph  service,  make  transit 
and  communication  so  easy  and  rapid.  The  news 
of  Scotland's  sufferings  and  spiritual  desolation 
travelled  slowly,  but,  even  if  it  had  not  been  so, 
every  country  of  Europe,  rising  up  with  difficulty 
from  the  ruins  of  conquest,  had  need  of  its  own 
priests  and  missionaries  to  convert  its  conquerors. 
Poor  Scotland  !  It  was  only  beginning  to  find 


132  ST  MARGARET 

its  way  in  the  paths  of  civilisation  and  was  ill- 
prepared  for  such  a  cruel  blow.  Children  grew 
up  with  scarce  a  teacher  to  tell  them  what  or  why 
to  believe.  Education  was  no  longer  possible 
except  in  a  few  far-separated  parts,  and  ignorance 
spread  over  the  land  far  more  rapidly  than 
learning  had  done.  The  people  were  only  semi- 
barbarians  after  all  and  the  wonder  is  not  that  the 
nation  soon  became  lax  and  ignorant  with  regard 
to  religion,  but  that  a  remnant  of  Catholic  truth 
was  still  kept  and  cherished  in  spite  of  every 
drawback.  And  it  was  thus  kept  and  cherished. 
When  St  Margaret  came  to  Scotland  in  1069 
there  were  still  monks  at  Dunkeld  and 
St  Andrew's  and  secular  priests  had  succeeded  the 
martyred  sons  of  St  Columba  in  other  places. 

Ignorance,  indeed,  had  done  its  work,  and  though 
many  of  the  priests  were  good  and  devoted  men, 
and  as  full  of  zeal  as  the  monks  themselves,  they 
were  all  too  few  to  cope  with  the  great  work  which 
had  to  be  done.  In  such  troubled  times  as 
followed  the  destruction  of  the  monasteries  the 
beauty  of  God's  House  was  thought  of  not  at  all. 
Poor  as  the  monks  of  St  Columba  had  been  in  all 


ST   MARGARET'S   MISSION       133 

that  concerned  themselves,  they  loved  to  beautify 
the  altar,  and  so  they  had  rich  chalices  and 
valuable  ornaments  in  their  churches.  Nothing 
of  value  escaped  the  Northmen,  and  when  they  had 
passed  by,  new  beginnings  were  necessary  every- 
where. 

The  Christians  soon  built  churches  of  some 
sort  to  replace  the  demolished  buildings,  but  they 
were  rude  and  poor,  with  walls  of  mud  and  wattle, 
and  roofs  of  thatch.  Pillage  of  such  churches 
would  be  an  easy  matter  and  so  it  was  not  thought 
advisable  to  give  them  rich  furnishings.  To  do 
so  would  only  encourage  the  foreign  robbers,  by 
providing  treasure  for  them  to  steal.  So  thought 
the  fathers ;  but  sons  grew  up  who  had  no 
memories  of  beautiful  altars,  with  rich  ornaments 
and  treasures  sacrificed  and  consecrated  to  the 
service  of  God.  They  had  only  seen  poor  and 
neglected  places  of  worship,  and  their  minds 
soared  no  higher. 

And  then,  alas  !  As  ignorance  and  indifference 
spread  abroad  many  entered  the  churches  so 
seldom  as  scarcely  to  know  how  they  were 
furnished.  There  was  only  one  bishop  in  all 


134  ST  MARGARET 

Scotland,  and  with  means  of  communication 
almost  non-existent  it  was  impossible  for  him  to 
keep  in  touch  with  his  scattered  flock.  Abuses 
crept  in,  the  laws  of  the  Church  were  disregarded, 
and  men  and  women  forgot  the  high  ideals  that 
the  disciples  of  St  Columba  had  placed  before 
them.  The  light  of  Christianity  was  slowly  but 
surely  waning  when  God  sent  St  Margaret  to  stir 
up  its  dying  embers  and  make  them  glow  again. 

St  Margaret  did  not  substitute  for  an  ancient 
Celtic  Christianity  that  of  Rome  as  some  writers 
of  history  pretend. 

"  There  was  indeed  no  need  for  Margaret  to 
bring  a  new  religion  into  Scotland  >:'  says  Mr 
Freeman  ' '  but  she  gave  a  new  life  to  the  religion 
which  she  found  existing  there."  Margaret  had 
been  a  Catholic  in  Hungary,  and  in  England,  and 
when  she  came  to  Scotland  she  found  there  only 
her  own  dear  faith,  living  still  in  spite  of 
ignorance  and  consequent  neglect  and  decay. 

The  good  Queen  understood  these  things  better 
than  later  reformers  because  she  was  humble. 
She  never  thought  of  trying  to  improve  on  the 
teaching  of  Christ  and  His  apostles  or  of  invent- 


ST   MARGARET'S   MISSION       135 

ing  a  new  religion  for  her  poor  erring  people. 
All  she  sought  to  do — and  she  did  it  nobly — was 
to  build  up  what  had  been  broken  down,  to  correct 
mistakes  and  eradicate  abuses  that  had  found 
entrance  through  national  prejudice  and  isolation. 
Though  the  Church  seemed  to  be  falling  into 
decay,  its  foundations  were  strong  and  secure. 
St  Margaret's  design  was  to  clear  away  the  debris 
of  ruin,  and  to  set  enthusiastic  builders  to  work, 
that  the  structure  might  be  restored  to  its  former 
beauty. 

St  Ninian  and  St  Coluinba  had  taught  the 
people  to  believe  in  Christ  and  this  they  had  not 
forgotten.  St  Margaret  came  to  remind  them  that 
"  faith  without  works  is  dead,"  and  that  Our 
Lord  would  have  them  not  only  know  His  life  but 
live  it.  As  St  John  tells  us  "He  that  saith  he 
knoweth  Him  and  keepeth  not  His  commandments 
is  a  liar  and  the  truth  is  not  in  him." 

The  Queen's  own  faith  was  strong  and  living, 
and  because  she  knew  her  Lord  she  loved  and 
served  Him.  It  was  her  aim  and  the  work  of  her 
life,  thus  to  vivify  religion  in  her  court  and 
throughout  Scotland  and  to  make  it  not  only 
known  but  also  lived  and  loved, 


CHAPTER  IX 

ST  MARGARET  AND  THE  CHURCHES 

"  I  have  loved,  O  Lord,  the  beauty  of  thy  house 
and  the  place  where  thy  glory  dwelleth." 

ST  MARGARET  was  no  strong-minded  young 
woman,  setting  out  for  Scotland  on  a  mission  of 
conversion.  A  bumble  retiring  maiden,  princess 
though  she  was,  brought  up  in  seclusion  from  the 
world  and  dreaming  of  a  still  more  secluded  life 
in  the  cloister,  she  would  have  appeared  to  human 
wisdom  all  unsuited  for  such  a  mighty  task. 

But  God  uses  the  weak  things  of  the  world  to 
confound  the  strong,  and  as  His  hand  guided  her 
frail  boat  in  the  stormy  waters  of  the  Forth,  so  it 
guided  her  gentle  spirit  in  the  work  for  His  glory 
which  He  had  sent  her  to  accomplish  in  Scotland. 

The  Saxon  Princess  found  herself  among  rude 

surroundings  in  Dunfermline,  as  we  have  seen,  but 

136 


ST  MARGARET  AND  CHURCHES  137 

probably  the  bareness  and  uncared-for  appearance 
of  the  chapel  was  her  greatest  trial ;  for  she  was 
ever  mindful  of  God's  honour,  and  had  always 
seen  his  altars  adorned  with  the  best  that  His 
people  could  offer  Him,  of  what  He,  Himself,  had 
given  them.  As  soon  as  she  became  Queen  of 
Scotland,  and  mistress  of  the  Tower,  she  set  to 
work  to  make  the  chapel  a  more  worthy  dwelling- 
place  for  our  Lord.  Her  most  beautiful 
ornaments  were  sacrificed  for  its  adornment  and 
the  first  vestments  made  by  her  ladies  were  for 
the  priests  who  said  Mass  at  its  altar.  All  this 
was  not  enough.  It  grieved  St  Margaret's  loving 
heart  that  there  was  no  church  in  Scotland  large 
and  beautiful  like  those  of  the  South,  and  her 
devoted  husband  rejoiced  because  she  had  a  desire 
that  he  could  satisfy. 

Thus  it  came  to  pass  that  a  new  church  rose  up 
on  the  heights  behind  Dunfermline  Tower,  a 
stately  building  which  had  at  its  completion  the 
renown  of  being  the  ' '  largest  and  fairest ' '  in  all 
the  land.  This,  however,  was  not  remarkable 
praise,  for  Scottish  churches  were  few  and  small 
until  long  after  this  date.  It  w$s  left  to 


138  ST  MARGARET 

St  Margaret's  sons  to  cover  Scotland  with  fine 
buildings  for  the  greater  honour  of  God. 

The  Dunfermline  church  was  completed  in 
1074  and  dedicated  to  the  Holy  Trinity.  As 
there  are  three  Persons  in  One  God,  the 
chroniclers  tell  us,  the  King  and  Queen  offered 
their  church  to  God  with  a  threefold  intention — 
to  thank  Him  for  their  happy  meeting  and  union 
at  Dunfermline;  to  beg  His  grace,  that  they 
might  accomplish  the  salvation  of  their  souls ;  and 
to  ask  His  blessing  on  their  children  in  this  world 
and  in  the  next.  St  Margaret  delighted  in  adorn- 
ing the  new  church,  despoiling  herself  of  her 
most  precious  jewels  that  it  might  be  beautified. 
Turgot  says  there  were  in  this  church  "  many 
vessels  of  pure  and  solid  gold  for  the  sacred 
service  of  the  altar,  and  about  which  I  can  speak 
with  the  greater  certainty  since  by  the  Queen's 
orders,  I  myself  for  a  long  time  had  all  of  them 
under  my  charge."  Here  indeed  the  Queen 
placed  her  greatest  treasure,  a  crucifix  of 
"  priceless  value,"  covered  with  gold  and  studded 
with  gems. 

This   church  of  the   Holy  Trinity  built   by 


[To  face  page  189. 


ST  MARGARET  AND  CHURCHES  139 

St  Margaret  was  the  first  of  several  noble 
buildings  consecrated  to  the  service  of  God  which 
were  erected  on  this  site  by  her  successors.  It  was 
also  the  ancestor  of  the  present  degenerate  edifice 
whose  tower  with  its  huge  letters,  proclaiming  the 
honour  of  "  King  Robert  the  Bruce,"  proclaims 
at  the  same  time  its  modern  construction.  A 
monastery  soon  grew  up  beside  the  good  Queen's 
church  and  in  the  latter  and  its  successors,  built 
by  St  Margaret's  children,  the  office  of  the  Church 
was  chanted  by  the  monks  of  Dunfermline,  until 
they  were  silenced  and  scattered  in  1593  by  the 
:<  Lords  of  the  Congregation,"  who  enriched 
themselves  with  the  patrimony  of  the  poor,  in  the 
name  of  reformation. 

There  is  no  pitiful  tale  of  relaxation  and  decay 
in  the  history  of  Dunfermline  Abbey.  It  had  a 
long  line  of  distinguished  abbots,  who  indeed 
acquired  much  wealth  and  attained  to  great 
power,  but  who  used  both  for  the  glory  of  God  and 
the  good  of  their  fellow-men. 

Dunfermline  and  the  surrounding  districts  owe 
their  prosperity  to  their  ancient  Abbey,  for  "  it  is 
good  to  dwell  under  the  crozier ' '  as  their 


140  ST  MARGARET 

ancestors  did.  The  forests  were  cleared  by  the 
devoted  labours  of  the  monks,  the  land  was 
laboriously  put  under  cultivation  and  happy 
homesteads  sheltered  the  prosperous  descendants 
of  the  poor  men  and  women  for  whom 
St  Margaret's  charity  had  done  so  much  in  days 
when  there  was  no  work  to  be  had.  All  the 
Queen's  good  works  were  ably  perpetuated  by  the 
monks.  They  had  schools  for  the  studious  and 
workshops  where  those  so  inclined  might  learn 
the  various  crafts.  They  taught  men  how  to  till 
the  soil  and  make  it  fruitful,  how  to  build  houses, 
how  to  trade  with  other  countries,  how,  in  a  word, 
to  become  industrious  and  ingenious  and 
resourceful,  like  the  people  of  more  civilised 
countries.  But,  better  than  all  this,  the  monks 
were  the  guardians  of  the  unfortunate.  They 
nursed  the  sick,  took  care  of  the  simple,  fed  and 
clothed  the  poor,  and  provided  employment  for  all 
who  could  work.  There  was  no  need  for  any  on 
the  Abbey  lands  to  be  idle,  uncared  for,  or 
erring,  for  the  monks  were  interested  in  all  the 
wants  of  their  people,  whether  of  soul  or  body. 
While  St  Margaret  was  making  herself 


ST  MARGARET  AND  CHURCHES  141 

acquainted  with  the  state  of  religion  in  Scotland 
she  had  occasion  to  study  in  considerable  detail 
the  life  and  work  of  St  Columba,  and  her  admira- 
tion for  the  apostolic  man  grew  with  her  greater 
knowledge  of  him. 

Earl  Thorfinn,  the  Norwegian  ruler  of  the 
Hebrides,  whose  widow,  Ingibiorg,  became 
Malcolm  Canmore's  first  wife,  died  in  1057,  and 
from  that  time  the  Western  Isles  were  governed 
by  an  Irish  prince.  In  1072  they  fell  into  the 
hands  of  Canmore  and  remained  under  his 
government  until  the  last  year  of  his  reign,  when 
he  ceded  them  again  to  Magnus,  King  of  Norway. 

No  sooner  were  the  Western  Isles  in 
St  Margaret's  power  than  she  bethought  herself 
of  lona  and  resolved  to  restore  its  ancient  glory 
to  the  best  of  her  ability.  She  rebuilt  the 
monastery  and  church,  brought  monks  from  other 
houses  and  settled  them  there,  providing  a  suitable 
endowment  for  their  support.  Ruin  came  again 
when  the  Norwegians  re-established  themselves 
on  the  islands,  and  succeeding  restorations  were 
followed  again  by  ruin,  and  yet,  if  St  Columba 's 
prophecy  is  to  be  fulfilled,  the  monks  will  once 


142  ST  MARGARET 

more  chant  the  divine  office  on  the  wild  island  of 
the  Atlantic. 

"  Isle  of  my  heart,  isle  of  my  love, 
Instead  of  the  voice  of  the  monks 
Shall  be  the  lowing  of  kine; 
But  ere  the  world  come  to  an  end, 
lona  shall  be  as  it  was." 

Many  churches  throughout  Scotland  benefited 
by  St  Margaret's  generosity.  Her  rooms  in  the 
palace  were  perfect  workshops  of  sacred  art,  with 
copes,  chasubles,  stoles  and  priestly  vestments  of 
every  kind,  in  all  stages  of  preparation.  Her 
maids  of  honour  became  experts  in  embroidery 
and  their  mistress  sent  their  beautful  work  over 
all  the  land.  Nor  was  this  all.  The  Queen 
established,,  other  kinds  of  workshops  outside  the 
palace,  and  brought  skilled  craftsmen  from 
England  and  the  Continent  to  teach  her  own 
subjects  how  to  fashion  golden  vases  and  candle- 
sticks and  other  beautiful  things  for  the  poor 
neglected  churches. 

Meanwhile,  the  services  of  the  Church  were 
celebrated  at  Dunfermline  with  splendour  and 
solemnity,  for  the  Saxon  monks  helped  the  Queen 


ST  MARGARET  AND  CHURCHES  143 

in  all  her  good  works  with  glad  and  grateful 
hearts.    They  had  long  looked  with  apprehension 
on  the  general  stagnation  but  their  feeble  efforts 
had  been  powerless  to  stay  its  course,  and  now  it 
seemed  that  God  had  heard  their  prayers  and 
given  them  their  hearts'  desire.     Men  came  to 
Mass  in  the  new  Abbey  Church  and  pondered  on 
the  significance  of  what  they  saw  there.     It  was 
surely  more  in  accordance  with  the  teachings  of 
their    faith    than    anything    they    had    known 
hitherto.     Religion  had  been  but  a  secondary 
consideration,  not  to  be  taken  seriously  except  by 
priests,  and  monks  and  nuns  shut  up  in  their 
cloister  away  from  the  world.     Yet  here  was  a 
queen,  young,  beautiful  and  learned,  and  she  was 
very  evidently  persuaded  that  religion  was  the 
"  one  thing  necessary,"  for  she  made  so  many 
sacrifices  for  its  sake  that  none  could  doubt  her 
sincerity.    Her  goods,  her  talents,  her  time,  were 
given  ungrudgingly  that  God's  House  might  be 
made  more  worthy  of  His  Presence  and  there  she 
might  be  seen  kneeling  in  humble  abasement 
before    the   altar,    adoring    her    Lord   like    the 
lowliest  of  her  people. 


144  ST  MARGARET 

It  did  not  come  at  once,  but  ere  many  years  had 
passed,  we  hear  of  the  nobles  and  their  ladies 
following  the  example  set  by  the  Queen,  and,  like 
her,  despoiling  themselves  to  make  the  churches 
beautiful.  Crowded  congregations  became  the 
rule  as  time  went  on,  and  larger  buildings  had 
to  be  raised  to  accommodate  them.  Ladies  took 
pleasure  in  working  for  the  altars,  and  learned 
with  eagerness  the  arts  which  the  good  Queen's 
needlewomen  were  as  eager  to  teach,  and  many 
of  them  found  new  interest  in  life  as  they  bent 
over  fine  linen  and  laces,  and  cloth  of  gold  and 
silver,  fashioning  these  dainty  materials  into 
altar-cloths  and  vestments. 

External  reforms  !  Yes.  St  Margaret  knew 
that  as  well  as  we  moderns  do,  but  love  grows  in 
strength  and  power  of  sacrifice,  when  we  labour 
and  deny  ourselves  for  those  we  love,  and 
St  Margaret  knew  this,  too.  The  outward 
attention  to  religion  went  hand  in  hand  with  a 
great  renewal  of  fervour  and  an  improvement  in 
manners  and  morals,  and  so  the  dead  bones  of 
Scottish  Christianity  began  to  live  again.  And 
as  St  Margaret  raised  up  and  made  beautiful  the 


ST  MARGARET  AND  CHURCHES  145 

material  churches,  in  order  that  Christ  might  be 
duly  honoured,  so  she  was  going  to  raise  up  again 
and  clothe  with  honour  His  Mystic  Church, 
which,  in  this  land  of  her  adoption,  had  fallen  into 
well-nigh  as  great  decay  and  ruin. 


CHAPTER  X 

ST  MARGARET,  APOSTLE  OF  SCOTLAND 

IT  was  comparatively  an  easy  matter  for 
St  Margaret  to  convert  the  King  and  remodel  the 
court.  Her  example  and  influence  were  so 
powerful  that  she  early  won  her  husband,  as  an 
ancient  writer  somewhat  strongly  expresses  it, 
"  to  relinquish  his  barbarous  manners,  and  live 
honestly  and  civilly."  Turgot  marvels  how 
"  by  the  help  of  God,  she  made  him  most  atten- 
tive to  the  works  of  justice,  mercy,  almsgiving 
and  other  virtues,"  as  well  as  to  prayer.  Her 
household  and  following  were  likewise  soon  com- 
posed of  practical  Christians,  who,  like  the  Queen 
herself,  found  joy  and  delight  in  serving  God. 

But  St  Margaret  could  not  be  content  with  the 
conversion  of  her  household  only.  There  was 
all  the  rest  of  Scotland  to  be  thought  of,  and  the 

land  was  now  her  land,  and  the  people  her  people. 

146 


APOSTLE    OF    SCOTLAND        147 

She  could  not  be  happy  in  the  light  while  they 
were  in  darkness.  The  Queen's  investigations 
had  brought  to  her  notice  many  things  that 
needed  reform,  for,  partly  through  ignorance, 
partly  through  neglect,  some  strange  practices 
existed  in  different  parts  of  the  country — prac- 
tices contrary  to  the  usage  of  the  universal 
Church.  Turgot  tells  us  some  of  these  prac- 
tices, though  he  is  not  as  explicit  as  we  could 
desire.  At  a  much  earlier  date  than  this  the 
sons  of  St  Columba  and  those  of  St  Augustine 
had  been  at  variance  concerning  some  matters  of 
Church  discipline,  and  notably  the  date  of  Easter. 
The  dispute  had  been  happily  settled  long  ago, 
and  for  two  centuries  and  more  Scotland  had 
kept  Easter  with  the  rest  of  the  world.  And 
now  in  the  eleventh  century  St  Margaret  found 
them  in  error  as  to  the  other  end  of  Lent,  for 
these  tantalising  people  had  a  date  entirely  their 
own  for  its  commencement.  While  all  other 
Catholics  throughout  Christendom  began  the 
fast  on  the  Wednesday  preceding  the  first  Sun- 
day of  Lent,  the  Scots  alone  began  on  the 
Monday  of  the  first  week.  Moreover,  with  a 


148  ST  MARGARET 

hardness  and  rigour  quite  opposed  to  the  sweet 
mercy  of  the  Gospel  teaching,  and  the  traditions 
of  the  Church,  the  Scots  refused  to  receive  the 
Holy  Eucharist  even  at  Easter,  alleging  that 
they  were  not  worthy,  though  they  had  been 
absolved  from  their  sins  in  the  tribunal  of  Pen- 
ance. Some  of  the  priests  defended  this  attitude 
and  often  forbade  those  who  had  sinned  griev- 
ously to  approach  the  Altar  at  any  time,  even 
when  penitent  and  purified  by  a  good  confession. 
The  mere  telling  of  it  shocks  us,  and  yet  our 
ancestors  only  made  the  same  mistake  as  many 
well-meaning  people  make  in  the  twentieth  cen- 
tury, that  of  looking  on  the  Holy  Eucharist  as  a 
reward  for  virtue,  rather  than  as  a  means  of 
attaining  to  it.  "  He  that  eateth  Me,  the  same 
also  shall  live  by  Me,"  says  our  Lord;  but,  in 
spite  of  this,  some  refuse  to  go  to  Holy  Com- 
munion daily,  or  even  weekly,  because  they  are 
not  "  good  enough,"  forgetting  that  by  depriv- 
ing themselves  of  the  "  Bread  which  cometh 
down  from  Heaven,"  they  are  starving  their 
souls  and  hindering  themselves  in  the  very 
attainment  of  "  goodness." 


APOSTLE    OF    SCOTLAND        149 

In  some  parts  of  Scotland  there  was  another 
peculiar  abuse.  Mass  was  celebrated  by  a 
strange  and  barbarous  rite.  Turgot  does  not 
explain  this  rite  further  than  by  saying  that  it 
was  "  contrary  to  the  usage  of  the  whole 
Church,"  and  there  are  many  conjectures  as  to 
its  nature.  Some  think  that  ancient  supersti- 
tious practices  were  mingled  with  the  ceremonial 
and  others  that  Gaelic  was  .used  instead  of  Latin, 
but  history  is  silent  on  the  matter  and  the  actual 
truth  will  probably  never  be  known.  A  fourth 
blot  on  the  Catholic  life  of  Scotland  was  the  dis- 
regard shown  for  Sundajr.  Many  ignored  the 
obligation  of  hearing  Mass  and  business  was  con- 
ducted as  on  other  days.  Finally  the  laws  of  the 
Church  with  regard  to  marriage  were  violated  in 
a  shocking  manner  and  especially  those  relating 
to  kinship. 

When  these  and  other  abuses  were  reported  to 
the  good  Queen,  she  spent  many  hours  before  the 
Altar  praying  for  light  and  guidance  in  hei  diffi- 
cult task.  It  was  evident  that  the  people  of 
Scotland  were  gradually  falling  back  into  the 
ways  of  life  from  which  St  Columba  and  his 


150  ST  MARGARET 

disciples  had  rescued  them,  and  she  could  not  be 
indifferent  to  their  fate.  She  had  already  done 
much  by  her  good  example ;  and  priests,  like  her 
confessor,  Turgot,  had  helped  her  to  reach  many 
who  were  beyond  her  personal  influence,  but  all 
this  was  not  enough.  St  Margaret's  conscience 
said  to  her,  as  Mardochai  had  said  to  Esther  of 
old  : — "  And  who  knoweth  whether  thou  art  not 
therefore  come  to  the  kingdom  that  thou  might- 
est  be  ready  in  such  a  time  as  this  ?  " 

The  Celtic  priests  ignored  the  Queen's 
messengers  because  they  did  not  mean  to  be  con- 
vinced of  the  error  of  their  ways,  and  then,  after 
more  consideration  and  prayer,  St  Margaret  took 
a  step  which  was  surely  a  brave  one  for  a  gentle 
lady  who  loved  so  well  the  seclusion  and  retire- 
ment of  her  own  home.  Her  plan  was  to  try  the 
effect  of  personal  expostulation  with  her  chief 
opponents,  and  the  King  not  only  approved  but 
eagerly  undertook  to  help  her.  The  most 
important  among  the  clergy  were  invited  to  a 
conference  on  the  disputed  points,  but  the  Queen 
could  not  speak  Gaelic,  and  though  the  priests 
used  Latin  in  the  Church  services  there  were  few 


APOSTLE    OF    SCOTLAND        151 

whose  knowledge  of  it  was  sufficient  for  argu- 
ment. The  King  simplified  matters  by  acting 
as  interpreter,  being  equally  at  home  in  the  use 
of  Gaelic  and  Saxon,  and  he  seems  to  have  acted 
throughout  only  as  St  Margaret's  mouthpiece. 
It  was  an  eloquent  testimony  to  Malcolm's  love 
and  reverence  for  his  wife,  for  he  was  a  man  who 
liked  being  in  the  foreground  and  was  little  used 
to  second  places  either  in  the  council-chamber  or 
on  the  battle-field.  There  were  many  confer- 
ences or  councils,  but  Turgot  tells  us  chiefly  of 
one  which  lasted  for  three  days.  The  Culdees 
defended  their  position  on  every  point,  but  the 
Queen's  reasoning  was  logical  and  conclusive 
and  point  by  point  they  yielded  and  agreed  to  do 
as  she  desired. 

These  men  (Keledei  or  Ceile  De,  servants  of 
God)  were  priests  living  in  community.  They 
were  the  successors  of  the  monks  of  St  Columba, 
destroyed  by  the  Danes,  but  did  not  live  according 
to  the  strict  rule  of  their  predecessors.  As  to 
Lent,  they  maintained  that  they  fasted  for  six 
weeks  on  the  authority  of  the  Gospel  which  tells 
that  Christ  fasted  for  such  a  period.  St  Margaret 


152  ST  MARGARET 

reminded  them  that  the  Gospel  expressly  says 
"  forty  days." 

"As  to  fasting  for  forty  days,"  she  con- 
tinued, "  it  is  a  thing  which  notoriously  you  do 
not  do.  For  seeing  that  during  the  six  weeks, 
you  deduct  the  six  Sundays  from  the  fast,  it  is 
clear  that  thirty-six  days  only  remain." 

When  asked  why  they  did  not  obey  the  laws  of 
the  Church  with  regard  to  the  Easter  Com- 
munion, the  priests  quoted  St  Paul — "  He  that 
eateth  and  drinketh  unworthily,  eateth  and 
drinketh  judgment  to  himself." 

"  As  we  are  sinners,"  they  said,  "  we  fear  to 
approach  the  Sacred  Mystery,  lest  we  merit  this 
condemnation." 

"  But  we  are  all  sinners,"  said  the  Queen, 
"  even  the  infant  who  has  lived  but  a  day,  and  if 
none  of  .us,  being  sinners,  ought  to  receive,  why 
did  our  Lord  Himself  say  : — '  Unless  you 
eat  the  Flesh  of  the  Son  of  Man  and  drink  His 
Blood,  you  shall  not  have  life  in  you.' : 

Continuing  her  discourse,  St  Margaret 
reminded  the  Culdees  that  their  quotation  from 
St  Paul  was  incomplete  as  they  had  omitted  the 


APOSTLE    OF  SCOTLAND         153 

words: — "Not  discerning  the  Body  of  the 
Lord,"  that  is,  not  making  a  distinction  between 
the  Blessed  Sacrament,  which  is  the  Body  of  the 
Lord,  and  ordinary  bread.  It  was  the  man,  she 
told  them,  who  would  dare  to  approach  in  mortal 
sin  without  confession  or  penance,  who  would 
"  eat  and  drink  judgment  to  himself." 
"  Whereas  we,"  she  said,  "  who  many  days  pre- 
viously have  made  confession  of  our  sins  and 
have  been  cleansed  from  their  stains  by  chasten- 
ing penance,  by  trying  fasts,  by  almsgiving  and 
tears — approaching  in  the  Catholic  faith  to  the 
Lord's  Table  on  the  Day  of  His  Resurrection, 
receive  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  the 
immaculate  Lamb,  not  to  judgment,  but  to  the 
remission  of  our  sins,  and  as  a  health-giving  pre- 
paration for  eternal  happiness." 

When  St  Margaret  had  won  the  priests  to  her 
side  on  such  important  matters,  and  in  doing  so 
gained  their  esteem  and  reverence,  it  was  easy  to 
induce  them  to  use  their  authority  for  the  aboli- 
tion of  the  "  barbarous  rite  '"  used  in  saying 
Mass.  Turgot  assures  us  that  it  disappeared  at 
once,  "  so  that  henceforth,"  he  says,  "  in  the 


154  ST  MARGARET 

whole  of  Scotland,  there  was  not  one  single  per- 
son who  dared  to  continue  the  practice."  Still 
more  easily  the  Queen  won  her  adversaries  to 
help  her  in  making  the  people  observe  the 
sanctity  of  Sunday.  They  had  no  argument  in 
favour  of  non-observance,  for  the  evil  customs 
had  established  themselves  gradually  owing  to 
neglect  and  carelessness.  St  Margaret  herself 
was  always  most  careful  that  all  under  her  care 
should  keep  the  Sunday  holy,  and  many  distin- 
guished Protestants  consider  that  the  strictly 
kept  Scottish  ' '  Sabbath  "  is  a  product  of  her 
zeal.  The  reverence  may  indeed  have  come 
down  from  St  Margaret  though  the  manner  of 
showing  it  is  different. 

At  the  close  of  the  conference  the  priests  were 
in  perfect  accord  with  the  Queen  on  each  point 
discussed,  and  promised  to  use  every  effort  to 
make  their  flocks  all  that  she  desired  them  to  be. 
They  left  St  Margaret's  presence  marvelling  at 
her  power  and  also  at  their  own  docility.  They 
would  have  defied  alike  the  eloquence  of  the 
Saxon  monks  and  the  might  of  Canmore's  sword, 
but  they  had  bowed  down  their  stubborn  wills 


APOSTLE    OF    SCOTLAND        155 

before  the  sweet  influence  of  a  good  and  gentle 
woman. 

Other  conferences  were  held,  but  they  were 
rather  to  arrange  ways  and  means  than  to  settle 
differences.  St  Margaret  had  no  idea  of  taking 
on  herself  any  part  of  Church  government.  The 
priests  were  the  proper  teachers  of  the  people, 
and  she  neither  did  their  work  nor  sent  anyone 
else  to  do  it.  Her  care  was  to  make  them  love 
Rome  and  all  its  ways,  for  she  knew  well  that  the 
branch  can  only  have  the  fullness  of  life  when 
entirely  united  to  the  vine. 

Perfect  harmony  as  to  religious  ceremonial 
and  observance  was  soon  established  between  the 
Scottish  Church  and  the  rest  of  the  Christian 
world,  and  it  was  never  broken  again  until  the 
sixteenth  century.  Gradually  the  apparently 
dying  Church  came  back  to  strong  and  vigorous 
life.  St  Columba  had  sowed  the  seed,  St  Margaret 
watered  and  tended  the  rising  grain,  and  God 
gave  the  increase. 


CHAPTER  XI 

ST  MARGARET'S  JOURNEYS 

IN  the  early  days  of  Scotland's  existence  as  a 
kingdom,  the  monarch  was  in  the  habit  of 
making  royal  progresses  throughout  his 
dominions  that  he  might  know  his  subjects 
better,  and  make  and  administer  suitable  laws 
for  the  furtherance  of  civilisation.  Duncan  is 
represented  as  travelling  about  in  this  way  and 
being  with  his  attendants  the  guest  of  one  of  his 
own  Thanes.  Shakespeare,  in  fact,  makes  a 
visit  of  this  kind  to  the  castle  of  Macbeth  the 
occasion  of  Duncan's  murder  by  his  treacherous 
host. 

Malcolm,  the  son  of  Duncan,  made  such  pro- 
gresses also,  though  probably,  with  his  two  royal 
abodes  of  Edinburgh  and  Dunfermline,  he  made 
fewer  state  visits  than  his  predecessors, 

156 


ST  MARGARET'S  JOURNEYS     157 

Later  kings  managed  still  better.  They  had 
estates  in  every  part  of  the  country,  and  spent 
with  their  courts  part  of  the  year  at  each  in  turn. 
Thus  royalty  became  better  known  and  a  greater 
number  of  people  were  able  to  profit  by  the  court 
expenditure. 

It  is  believed  that  St  Margaret  accompanied  her 
husband  on  his  progresses,  and  a  story  has  come 
down  to  .us  which  certainly  suggests  a  journey 
through  wilder  country  than  lay  between  Dun- 
fermline  and  Lothian. 

When  Edgar  Atheling  came  to  Scotland  in 
1069,  there  was  in  his  train  a  young  noble  named 
Bartulph,  who  enjoyed  the  fullest  confidence  of 
the  Prince  and  his  mother.  Malcolm  Canmore 
soon  came  to  appreciate  his  worth  also,  and  when 
Princess  Margaret  became  his  Queen,  Bartulph 
was  appointed  her  chamberlain. 

Among  the  duties  of  the  Queen's  chamberlain 
there  was  one  which  seems  peculiar  in  our  days 
of  easy  and  comfortable  travelling.  When 
Queen  Margaret  went  abroad  in  difficult  country 
— and  there  was  little  else  in  Scotland  in  the 
eleventh  century — she  rode  behind  Bartulph  on 


158  ST  MARGARET 

his  horse,  and  his  was  the  responsibility  of 
bringing  her  safely  through  river  and  morass. 
On  one  occasion  a  royal  progress  had  been  post- 
poned several  times  on  account  of  heavy  rains 
but  at  last  a  bright  morning  allowed  the  party  to 
set  out.  The  chamberlain  choosing  his  ground 
carefully  for  the  Queen's  greater  convenience, 
was  somewhat  in  the  rear,  and  when  he  reached 
a  certain  river,  he  found  that  King  Malcolm  and 
his  attendants  had  made  a  detour  and  crossed 
higher  up.  This  indeed  was  the  ordinary  ford, 
but  the  river  was  in  spate  and  the  black  waters 
rushed  past  with  threatening  force.  Bartulph 
hesitated,  when  he  thought  of  the  Queen  behind 
him,  and  proposed  following  the  King,  but 
St  Margaret  laughed  at  his  fears  and  .urged 
instant  crossing  that  she  might  rejoin  her 
husband. 

The  Queen's  safety  demanded  some  extra  pre- 
caution, however,  and  the  chamberlain  insisted 
that  his  royal  mistress  should  put  round  her 
waist  a  stout  leathern  belt  which  he  fastened  by 
means  of  a  large  buckle  to  his  own  trappings. 
Secured  in  this  way  it  was  impossible  for  the 


ST   MARGARET'S   JOURNEYS     159 

Queen  to  fall  while  the  chamberlain  maintained 
his  seat.  They  entered  the  water  and  proceeded 
without  much  difficulty  until  they  reached  mid- 
stream where  the  rush  of  the  torrent  was  wildest. 
Here  the  horse  floundered  helplessly,  and  but  for 
Bartulph's  forethought,  the  Queen  would  cer- 
tainly have  been  swept  away  by  the  angry 
waters.  She  slipped  several  times  and  with 
some  difficulty  regained  her  seat,  but  she  main- 
tained her  self-possession  and  said  no  word  to  her 
chamberlain,  whose  entire  attention  was  given 
to  his  struggling  horse.  At  last  the  poor  animal 
found  foothold  and  began  to  make  some  progress 
and  then  Bartulph  had  time  to  glance  at  the 
Queen.  "  Grip  hard,"  he  cried,  raising  his 
voice  that  it  might  be  heard  above  the  noise  of 
the  waters;  "  we'll  win  owre  yet." 

Queen  Margaret  was  clinging  with  desperation 
to  the  leathern  belt.  She  was  wet  and  cold,  but 
she  had  not  lost  her  sense  of  humour.  "  Gin  the 
buckle  bide,"  she  answered  grimly,  her  eyes 
fixed  on  her  only  hope  of  safety,  which  was 
strained  to  its  utmost  tension. 

The  buckle  did  "  bide,"  and  soon  the  Queen's 


160  ST  MARGARET 

ladies  removed  from  their  royal  mistress  all 
traces  of  her  misadventure.  When  a  radiant 
Queen,  clad  again  in  beautiful  garments,  laugh- 
ingly gave  a  graphic  description  of  the  struggle 
in  the  river,  Bartulph  was  warmly  complimented 
by  the  King.  At  Queen  Margaret's  request  the 
chamberlain  received  the  royal  command  to 
adorn  his  shield  with  buckles  and  to  take  for  the 
motto  of  his  family  the  words  "  Grip  hard." 
'Bartulph  had  already  obtained  from  the  King  a 
grant  of  lands  in  Fife.  Somewhat  later  he 
married  the  King's  sister,  and  either  he  or  his 
son  Malcolm  acquired  an  estate  of  considerable 
size  and  value  in  Aberdeenshire.  From  these 
lands  the  family  took  the  name  of  Leslie,  and 
became  an  important  Scottish  house.  The 
Leslie  shield  still  has  its  band  of  buckles  and  the 
ancient  motto  reminds  the  descendants  of 
Bartulph  to  "  Grip  hard." 

In  connection  with  St  Margaret's  travels  we 
learn  a  secret  which  makes  us  cease  to  wonder  at 
God's  merciful  dealings  with  Scotland. 
Always  ready  to  forgive  many  sinners  for  the 
sake  of  a  few  just  men,  He  found  more  than  a  few 


ST    MARGARET'S    JOURNEYS     161 

in  poor  Scotland  in  spite  of  its  decadence.  All 
over  the  country,  in  mountain  fastnesses,  in  the 
depth  of  the  forest,  by  the  wild  seashore,  and  on 
the  lonely  islands  of  mountain  lakes  there  were 
holy  men,  living  in  caves  or  in  cells  of  their  own 
construction.  They  were  called  anchorites,  and 
the  people  held  them  in  great  esteem  on  account 
of  the  strictness  of  their  lives.  Turgot  says  that 
they  lived  "  in  the  flesh,  but  not  according  to  the 
flesh;  for  being  upon  earth,  they  led  the  life  of 
angels." 

In  most  cases  the  anchorites  lived  entirely 
alone,  far  from  human  habitations,  but  some- 
times several  had  cells  in  the  same  neighbour- 
hood, that  they  might  profit  by  the  ministrations 
of  a  priest  among  their  number.  Their  lives 
were  passed  in  silence  and  prayer  and  manual 
labour  after  the  manner  of  the  "  Fathers  of  the 
Desert,"  but  they  were  always  ready  with  help 
and  counsel  when  people  came  to  them  in  distress 
or  difficulty.  Many  of  the  holy  men  were  Scots, 
but  some  were  Saxons  driven  into  exile  by  Nor- 
man tyranny.  Passing  years  indeed  brought 
peace  to  England,  and  the  wanderers  might 


162  ST  MARGARET 

have  returned  home,  but,  enamoured  of  their 
solitary  life,  they  preferred  the  place  of  their 
exile. 

St  Margaret  loved  to  visit  these  hermits,  con- 
versing with  them  on  spiritual  subjects  and 
recommending  herself  to  their  prayers,  "  for  in 
them  she  loved  and  venerated  Christ."  She 
would  fain  have  made  them  presents,  but  they 
refused  to  accept  anything,  and  so  she  begged 
them  to  set  her  tasks  from  time  to  time  in  works 
of  mercy  and  almsgiving.  This  they  did  readily 
enough,  and  the  good  Queen  delighted  in  obey- 
ing their  directions  minutely.  In  this  way 
many  poor  people  received  assistance,  and 
miseries  of  every  kind  were  alleviated.  One 
good  work  often  suggested  another,  and 
St  Margaret  gave  time,  trouble,  and  money 
ungrudgingly  in  her  neighbours'  service.  Nor 
had  she  any  difficulty  in  finding  poor  people  to 
help.  News  of  her  comings  and  goings  travelled 
quickly,  and  wherever  she  halted  crowds  of 
unfortunates  surrounded  her.  Widows  and 
orphans  were  always  numerous  in  these  gather- 
ings. They  flocked  to  the  kind  Queen  "  as  they 


ST    MARGARET'S    JOURNEYS     163 

would  have  done  to  a  loving  mother,  and  none  of 
them  left  her  without  being  comforted." 

St  Margaret  always  took  care  on  leaving  home 
to  provide  herself  with  abundant  alms,  and  often 
when  she  had  emptied  her  purse  she  would  give 
away  all  that  she  could  spare  of  her  wearing 
apparel.  Her  attendants  were  ready  to  help  by 
handing  over  to  the  Queen  all  that  they  could 
dispense  with  for  the  time  being,  in  order  that 
none  of  the  poor  might  go  away  empty-handed. 
Turgot  says  that  both  ladies  and  gentlemen  in 
the  Queen's  following  were  always  glad  to  be 
despoiled  in  this  manner  and  strove  who  should 
offer  most,  for,  as  he  quaintly  remarks,  they 
knew  from  experience  that  their  kind  mistress 
"  would  pay  them  back  two-fold."  This  is  the 
only  fault  that  even  modern  writers  can  find  in 
St  Margaret.  Some  of  them  think  that  her 
indiscriminate  almsgiving  was  unwise  and 
tended  to  encourage  mendicancy.  It  is  a  wide 
question  in  our  own  day,  this  of  indiscriminate 
almsgiving,  and  probably  as  many  err  on  the 
wrong  side  as  on  the  right,  but  if  we  transport 
ourselves  back  to  the  eleventh  century  among 


164  ST  MARGARET 

St  Margaret's  poor,  we  shall  find  circumstances 
even  more  perplexing  than  they  are  now.  In 
the  wild  Scotland  of  primitive  times  there  was  no 
self-made  poverty  to  fight  with,  for  the  vices  that 
now  keep  so  many  squalidly  poor  have  come  in  the 
wake  of  civilisation.  The  poor  of  the  eleventh 
century  were  for  the  most  part,  those  whom  war 
and  lawlessness  had  deprived  of  their  bread- 
winners and  the  captives  whose  hard  lot  of 
slavery  kept  them  always  destitute.  St  Mar- 
garet might  have  sent  her  attendants  to  disperse 
the  crowds,  and  the  poor  creatures  could  have 
crept  back  to  their  miserable  huts  to  starve  and 
die,  but  that  was  not  the  kind  of  lesson  the  good 
Queen  gave.  Why  could  they  not  work?  Some 
were  old  and  feeble  and  some  were  weak  and  ill. 
There  are  institutions  for  such  wretched  ones  in 
the  twentieth  century,  but  there  were  none  in 
the  eleventh.  And  even  for  the  able-bodied 
what  means  of  earning  a  livelihood  was  there  in 
primitive  times  ?  The  slaves  had  to  toil  without 
remuneration  and  in  the  establishments  of  the 
time  their  service  was  sufficient.  So  far  there 
were  no  industries  and  little  agriculture.  In 


ST    MARGARET'S    JOURNEYS    165 

times  of  war  the  men  could  fight  and  in  times  of 
peace  they  could  hunt  and  fish,  but  when  death 
or  disease  struck  down  the  head  of  a  poor  family, 
there  was  nothing  but  starvation  for  the  hapless 
wife  and  children. 

St  Margaret  did  not  repulse  her  beggars  to 
teach  them  not  to  beg.  She  helped  as  many  as 
she  could  and  taught  those  around  her  sweet 
lessons  of  charity  that  sank  deep  into  their 
hearts  and  brought  forth  abundant  fruit,  not  only 
in  their  own  lives  but  in  those  of  their  children 
and  their  children's  children.  It  was  not  that 
she  considered  this  mere  supplying  of  present 
needs  a  good  plan.  We  see  her  at  the  same  time 
thinking  of  the  ages  to  come,  and  laying  the 
foundations  of  a  system  that  would  make  alms- 
giving of  the  kind  she  practised  unnecessary  on 
the  part  of  her  successors.  Her  kind  heart  real- 
ised, however,  that  it  would  be  sorry  consolation 
to  the  hungry  around  her  to  tell  them  that  their 
grandchildren  would  have  plenty,  and  so  she  fed 
them,  while  maturing  plans  for  the  future. 

Meanwhile  Queen  Margaret  encouraged  the 
establishment  of  foreign  industries  in  Scotland, 


166  ST  MARGARET 

and  founded  monasteries  that  the  poor  might 
have  permanent  guardians.  Her  sons  followed 
in  their  mother's  footsteps  and  so  in  the  course 
of  years,  the  seed  planted  by  the  good  Queen 
grew  into  a  large  and  beneficent  tree.  'It  is 
good  to  live  under  the  crozier  "  and  during  the 
period  when  the  monasteries  were  fervent  and 
flourishing,  poverty  was  practically  unknown. 
As  we  have  seen  in  the  case  of  Dunfermline 
Abbey,  the  monks  provided  employment  in 
school,  workshop  or  field  for  all  who  were  able  to 
work,  and  they  sheltered  and  cared  for  the  old 
and  infirm  without  remuneration  of  any  kind. 
There  was  a  secret  in  their  charity,  too,  which  we 
seem  to  have  lost  in  the  intervening  centuries, 
for  they  could  relieve  a  man's  needs  without 
stealing  his  self-respect. 

St  Andrew's  had  been  the  ecclesiastical  centre 
of  Scotland  for  many  years  before  the  coming  of 
St  Margaret.  According  to  an  ancient  legend 
the  Apostle's  relics  had  been  brought  to  Fife  in  a 
manner  which  had  something  of  the  miraculous 
about  it.  St  Regulus  or  St  Rule  had  a  dream  or 
vision  in  which  he  was  told  by  an  angel  to  carry 


ST    MARGARET'S    JOURNEYS     167 

the  bones  of  St  Andrew  from  Patras  to  Scotland. 
The  saintly  messenger  braved  every  danger  and 
had  almost  performed  his  task,  but  storms  are 
frequent  on  the  coasts  of  Fife  and  his  boat 
encountered  a  fierce  one.  Poor  St  Regulus  was 
ship-wrecked  at  Muckros,  and  barely  succeeded 
in  saving  his  own  life  and  bringing  ashore  the 
precious  relics.  A  church  was  built  where  he 
landed  and  Muckros  became  St  Andrew's.  The 
story  is  told  of  the  fourth  century,  but  historians 
can  find  no  mention  of  the  relics  earlier  than  the 
eighth  century,  when  they  certainly  reposed 
under  the  altar  of  St  Andrew's  Church. 
St  Andrew's  had  long  been  the  seat  of  the 
"High-Bishop"  of  Scotland,  and  in  St  Mar- 
garet's time  he  began  to  be  called  "  Bishop  of 
St  Andrew's." 

Devout  people  in  Scotland  had  for  centuries 
been  in  the  habit  of  making  pilgrimages  to  the 
shrine  of  St  Andrew,  but  with  the  new  religious 
life  that  St  Margaret  had  awakened  in  the 
country,  stirring  men's  hearts  to  their  depths, 
the  pilgrims  became  very  numerous.  Acting  on 
the  suggestion  of  her  anchorites,  probably  those  of 


:68  ST  MARGARET 

Loch  Leven,  whom  she  is  said  to  have  regarded 
with  much  reverence,  the  Queen  set  herself  to 
provide  for  the  comfort  of  these  pilgrims. 
Many  of  them  had  to  cross  the  Forth,  and  the 
Queen  had  houses  built  on  both  shores  that  they 
might  have  suitable  shelter.  The  sites  of  Queen 
Margaret's  hostels  are  covered  now  by  the 
villages  of  North  and  South  Queensferry. 

Servants  were  appointed  to  wait  on  the  pilgrims 
and  provide  them  with  all  they  needed  for  rest 
and  refreshment,  and  no  pilgrim  might  be  asked 
for  payment.  "  Ships  '"  carried  the  pilgrims 
across  the  estuary  also  free  of  charge,  for 
the  good  Queen  bore  the  expense  of  the  whole 
undertaking  herself.  Though  St  Margaret  pro- 
bably never  realised  it,  this  first  passenger 
service  across  the  Forth  was  a  considerable  step 
forward  in  civilisation  and  progress.  Was  there 
any  Celtic  seer  in  the  pilgrims'  boat  who  could 
pierce  with  magic  vision  the  mists  of  the  future, 
and  so  looking  upward  could  trace  far  above  him 
the  giant  girders  of  the  Forth  Bridge?  The 
trains  that  cross  the  wonderful  structure  bear 
many  visitors  to  St  Andrew's,  but  they  are  not 


ST   MARGARET'S   JOURNEYS    169 

pilgrims  to  the  shrine  of  the  Apostle.  His  relics 
are  gone  from  Fife,  and  the  beautiful  cathedral 
under  whose  altar  they  reposed  is  now  only  a 
picturesque  ruin. 


CHAPTER  XII 

ST  MARGARET — A  PEARL  AMONG  WOMEN 

"  IT  came  to  pass,"  says  Turgot,  "  that  this 
venerable  Queen  who  by  God's  help  had  been  so 
desirous  to  cleanse  His  House  from  all  stain  and 
error,  was  found  day  by  day  worthier  of  becom- 
ing His  temple,  as  the  Holy  Spirit  shone  ever 
brighter  in  her  heart." 

In  all  her  care  for  others,  St  Margaret  never 
forgot  the  needs  of  her  own  soul.  Secular  work 
instead  of  distracting  her,  seemed  to  draw  her 
closer  to  God,  because  in  her  humility  she  knew 
herself  to  be  incapable  of  doing  anything  without 
His  help,  and  she  sought  it  unceasingly  by 
prayer  and  penance  and  deeds  of  mercy.  Her 
victories  in  conference  with  the  Culdees,  and  the 
wonderful  success  attending  all  her  undertakings, 

had  no  power  to  puff  her  .up  or  make  her  attempt 

170 


things  that  were  beyond  her  sphere.  In  her  own 
estimation  she  was  but  a  faulty  and  ignorant 
woman  whom  God  had  honoured  by  using  her  as 
His  instrument,  and  to  Him  she  gave  the  glory 
when  things  went  well.  She  was  ever  ready  to 
consult  others  and  to  govern  herself  by  their  coun- 
sels. Even  in  her  conferences  she  would  turn  to 
those  about  her  and  question  them  regarding  their 
opinion  of  the  prudence  and  circumspection  of 
what  she  was  saying  and  doing.  She  expected 
straightforward,  truthful  answers,  too,  and  was 
impatient  of  anything  that  savoured  of  flattery. 
Yet  no  man  in  her  kingdom  possessed  a  deeper 
or  clearer  intellect  than  hers,  and  none  could 
express  ideas  more  accurately  or  aptly.  It  often 
happened  that  the  clever  men  whom  she  con- 
sulted went  from  her  presence  wiser  than  when 
they  entered  it,  while  she  remained  all  uncon- 
scious of  the  impression  she  had  made  and  only 
esteemed  herself  fortunate  in  having  such  able 
advisers.  In  England,  as  Princess  Margaret, 
she  had  made  the  acquaintance  of  Lanfranc,  the 
saintly  and  learned  Norman  monk  who  had  then 
just  been  appointed  Archbishop  of  Canterbury. 


172  ST  MARGARET 

The  distinguished  prelate  wrote  to  her  fre- 
quently, after  she  became  Queen  of  Scotland, 
and  at  her  earnest  petition  acted  though  at  a  dis- 
tance as  her  spiritual  father.  He  advised  her  also 
on  affairs  concerning  the  Church  and  her  people, 
and  on  one  occasion,  probably  that  of  her  first 
conference  with  the  Culdees,  he  sent  at  her 
request  three  of  his  brethren  in  religion.  These 
made  some  stay  in  Scotland,  and  besides  sup- 
porting the  Queen  in  her  conferences,  they  were 
of  considerable  assistance  to  her  in  carrying  out 
her  reforms. 

St  Margaret  was  twenty-four  years  old  when 
she  came  to  Scotland  and  for  twenty-four  years 
more  she  was  its  Queen.  "  She  put  out  her 
hand  to  strong  things,"  and  as  the  years  went 
on,  her  energies  never  flagged,  nor  did  she  ever 
grow  weary  of  well-doing.  Gradually  the  court 
lost  all  signs  of  barbarity  and  assumed  the  aspect 
of  other  Christian  courts,  and  to  the  Queen  as 
teacher  and  model  was  due  the  credit  of  the 
mighty  change. 

"  But,"  says  Turgot,  "  even  as  she  walked  in 
state,  robed  in  royal  splendour,  she,  like  another 


A  PEARL  AMONG  WOMEN   173 

Esther,  in  her  heart  trod  all  these  trappings 
under  foot  and  bade  herself  remember  that 
beneath  the  gold  and  gems  lay  only  dust  and 
ashes."  She  had  no  regard  for  worldly 
grandeur  in  itself,  but  prudence  told  her  that 
royal  dignity  was  a  means  which  could  be  used 
for  great  and  glorious  ends,  for  the  glory  of  God 
and  the  salvation  of  souls,  and  so  she  remodelled 
the  Scottish  court.  "  It  was  easy,"  says  her 
confessor,  "  for  her  to  repress  all  vain  glory 
arising  from  earthly  splendour  since  her  soul 
never  forgot  how  transitory  is  this  frail  life." 
In  spite  of  her  life  of  heroic  virtue — a  life  that 
made  the  people  of  Scotland  regard  her  as  a  saint 
while  she  was  yet  alive — she  had  the  habit  of 
meditating  frequently,  "tremblingly  and  fear- 
fully," on  the  Day  of  Judgment. 

'  With  this  thought,"  says  the  holy  man, 
"  she  often  entreated  me  to  rebuke  her  without 
hesitation,  in  private,  whenever  I  saw  anything 
worthy  of  blame  either  in  her  words  or  actions." 
Evidently  he  did  not  find  fault  often  enough  to 
please  his  penitent,  for  she  urges  him  again 
and  again  not  to  be  remiss  in  this  duty. 


174  ST  MARGARET 

"  Better,"    she    tells    him,    "  are    the    wounds 
of   a    friend,    than   the    deceitful   kisses    of   an 


enemy." 


St  Margaret's  favourite  study  was  Holy 
Scripture,  and  in  the  midst  of  councils,  law- 
suits, and  the  distracting  cares  of  state,  she 
always  found  time  to  devote  to  it.  Books  were 
few  and  precious  in  Scotland  in  the  eleventh 
century,  and  Turgot  tells  us  that  he  exerted  him- 
self to  obtain  copies  of  the  Gospels  for  the  holy 
Queen,  so  desirous  was  she  of  leading  others  to 
love  them  as  dearly  as  she  did  herself.  At  that 
early  date  the  entire  Bible  was  seldom  bound  into 
one  volume,  and  the  Gospels  were,  of  course, 
more  frequently  transcribed  than  the  books  of 
the  Old  Testament.  Latin,  the  language  of  the 
Church,  was  understood  by  the  greater  number 
of  educated  people,  and  they  read  the  Bible  in 
that  language.  In  the  middle  ages,  however,  as 
the  monastery  schools  multiplied,  and  learning 
became  more  general,  there  were  numerous  trans- 
lations of  the  Scriptures  into  the  vulgar  tongue. 
Blfric  tells  us  himself  that  he  rendered  the 
Gospels  into  the  language  of  the  country,  "  for 


A    PEARL   AMONG   WOMEN      175 

the  edification  of  the  simple,  who  know  only  that 
language." 

The  Gospels  were  St  Margaret's  special 
delight,  and  she  never  went  anywhere  without 
them.  Clever  and  learned  as  she  was,  however, 
hers  was  no  hard,  dry,  critical  study,  but  rather 
what  we  call  meditation.  She  pondered  the 
sacred  words  in  her  heart,  prayerfully  seeking 
in  them  God's  message  to  her  own  soul,  and  so 
by  studying  the  life  of  Christ,  she  learnt  more 
and  more  to  walk  in  the  footsteps  and  imitate  the 
virtues  of  the  God-man. 

Turgot  tells  us  a  pretty  story  of  St  Margaret's 
favourite  book  of  the  Gospels.  It  is  indeed  the 
only  incident  of  a  miraculous  nature  that  he 
permits  himself  to  speak  of  in  connection  with 
the  Q.ueen,  so  strong  is  his  determination  to  be 
moderate  in  his  praise  and  to  fail  rather  by  defect 
than  by  excess.  It  is  as  follows  : — 

St  Margaret  had  a  beautiful  book  of  the 
Gospels  adorned  with  gold  and  precious  stones 
and  containing  richly  gilt  paintings  of  the  four 
Evangelists,  and  capital  letters  "  radiant  with 
gold."  No  doubt  the  King  was  responsible  for 


1 76  ST  MARGARET 

the  gorgeous  binding  of  the  book,  and  the  Queen 
loved  it  better  than  any  other  that  she  possessed, 
and  always  desired  to  have  it  brought  when  she 
travelled  abroad.  One  day  an  attendant,  carry- 
ing the  precious  volume  somewhat  carelessly  in  a 
loose  wrapper,  stumbled  in  crossing  a  ford,  and 
in  regaining  a  firm  footing  dropped  the  book  in 
the  water  and  passed  on,  .unconscious  of  his  loss. 
Presently  the  Queen  asked  for  her  book,  and 
when  it  could  not  be  found  a  diligent  search  was 
made  for  it.  A  week  passed  and  then  a  man  in 
the  Queen's  following  had  occasion  again  to  cross 
the  ford.  What  was  his  surprise  and  delight  to 
see  through  the  clear  water,  resting  on  the 
pebbles  at  the  bottom  of  the  river,  the  Queen's 
book.  It  was  open  and  its  leaves  were  kept  in 
constant  gentle  motion  by  the  action  of  the  run- 
ning water. 

The  wonderful  book  was  taken  from  the 
stream  as  perfect  as  if  water  had  never  touched 
it.  The  current  had  washed  away  the  silk 
coverings  that  had  formerly  protected  the 
"  radiant  '*  letters,  but  the  letters  themselves 
and  the  leaves  of  the  book  were  absolutely 


A   PEARL   AMONG    WOMEN      177 

uninjured.  The  pages  were  white,  the  gold 
untarnished,  the  letters  undimmed  in  bright- 
ness. Nothing  indeed  about  the  volume 
suggested  its  watery  resting-place  except  a 
slender  streak  like  a  hair,  in  the  margin  of  some 
of  the  leaves  near  the  edge.  The  recovered 
treasure  was  triumphantly  carried  to  the  Queen, 
and  all  who  saw  it,  expressed  wonder  and  admir- 
ation. St  Margaret  devoutly  gave  thanks  to 
God,  and  valued  her  book  more  highly  than 
before.  Happily,  this  relic  of  the  past  has  not 
been  lost.  It  is  now  a  priceless  treasure  in  the 
Bodleian  Library,  Oxford.  In  spite  of  his 
caution  Turgot  cannot  refrain  from  attesting 
his  belief  that  the  book  was  miraculously 
preserved. 

"  Whatever  others  may  think,"  he  says,  in 
speaking  of  St  Margaret's  holiness,  "I  for  my 
part  believe  that  this  wonder  was  worked  by  Our 
Lord,  out  of  His  love  for  this  venerable  Queen." 

In  the  "Ages  of  Faith  "  it  was  one  of  the  dear- 
est wishes  of  a  Christian  heart  to  visit  the  City  of 
St  Peter  and  pray  at  the  shrine  of  the  Apostle. 
St  Margaret's  love  of  Rome  was  not  slow  in 

M 


178  ST  MARGARET 

communicating  itself  to  her  people,  and  so  it 
happened  that  before  she  had  been  many  years  on 
the  throne,  Scotland,  like  its  neighbours,  had  its 
little  band  of  pilgrims  to  the  Eternal  City.  It 
was  a  joy  to  St  Margaret  to  see  them  go,  but  her 
motherly  heart  yearned  over  them  in  their 
wanderings,  and  she  could  not  bear  to  think  of 
them  as  alone  and  friendless  in  the  mighty  city 
so  far  away.  Her  great  mind  thought  of  every- 
thing, and  so  it  came  to  pass  that  Malcolm  Can- 
more  at  his  Queen's  request  endowed  a  hospice  in 
Rome  for  Scottish  pilgrims.  Many  a  Scot 
making  a  visit  of  devotion  to  the  City  of  the 
Popes,  blessed  St  Margaret  for  the  kindness  and 
hospitable  entertainment  he  received  owing  to 
her  loving  forethought.  And  so,  going  on  her 
way  "towards  the  Heavenly  Country,  in 
thought  and  word  and  deed,"  and  drawing  others 
to  join  her  as  she  went  "  that  they  might  with 
her  attain  true  happiness,"  she  saw  her  children 
growing  up  around  her  in  beauty  and  goodness, 
her  husband  attaining  to  such  power  as  no  previ- 
ous king  of  Scotland  had  enjoyed,  and  the  coun- 
try of  her  adoption  learning  her  lessons  so  well 


A  PEARL  AMONG  WOMEN   179 

as  to  give  promise  of  soon  taking  an  honourable 
place  among  Christian  nations. 

She  was  the  "  valiant  woman  "  whose  price  is 
"  as  of  things  from  afar  and  from  the  uttermost 
coasts."  It  might  well  be  said  of  her  that  "  her 
children  rose  up  and  called  her  blessed,  her  hus- 
band, and  he  praised  her,"  and  also  that  her 
works  would  "  praise  her  in  the  gates."  It 
was  an  ancient  custom  to  name  people  from 
some  striking  quality  or  characteristic,  and 
St  Margaret  might  have  been  so  named  for  she 
was  a  "  pearl  "  amongst  women. 

"  She  was  called  Margaret,"  says  Tiurgot, 
"  and  in  the  sight  of  God,  she  showed  herself  to 
be  a  pearl,  precious  in  faith  and  works." 


CHAPTER  XIII 

ST  MARGARET  AND  THE  CROSS 

"  A  king,  the  best  who  possessed  Alban. 
He  was  a  king,  of  kings  fortunate; 
He  was  the  vigilant  crusher  of  enemies; 
And  there  shall  not  be  born  for  ever 
One  who  had  more  fortune  or  greatness." 

THIS  is  how  an  ancient  writer  describes  Malcolm 
Canmore,  the  husband  of  St  Margaret.  It  is  not 
a  prophetic  utterance,  but  it  expresses  well  the 
estimation  in  which  the  great  head  was  held  by 
his  own  people. 

Scottish  history  grows  distinct  and  readable 
with  Malcolm's  coming.  His  royal  ancestry, 
indeed,  goes  back  for  ages,  but  his  predecessors 
are  shadowy  figures,  with  history  and  legend  so 
much  intermingled  around  them  that  it  is 
impossible  to  separate  fact  and  fable. 

Long  before  the  Christian  era,  says  legend, 
there  lived  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile  a  daughter  of 


ST  MARGARET  AND  THE  CROSS  181 

the  Pharaohs  whose  name  was  Scota.     She  was 
wise    and    beautiful    far    beyond    the    ordinary 
daughters  of  men,  but  this  did  not  prevent  her 
from  being  the  victim  of  cruel  tyranny  on  the 
part  of  a  wicked  enemy.     To  escape  his  malice 
Scota  resolved  to  leave  her  native  Egypt  for  ever. 
With    her    husband    and    a    band    of    faithful 
followers,  she  launched  out  into  the  Mediterranean 
and  sailed  away  to  the  west.    Scota  was  rich,  for 
she  carried  with  her  in  her  fleet  of  boats  many 
precious  and  beautiful  things — gold  and  silver 
and    precious    stones.      Her    greatest    treasure, 
however,  was  none  of  these  valuables,  but  a  huge 
stone  of  no  beauty  whatever.     It  had  long  been 
the  heirloom  in  Scota 's  family,  and  her  people 
called   it   the   Lia    Fail   or   Stone   of   Destiny. 
Tradition  said  that  it  was  the  veritable   stone 
which  had  formed  a  pillow  for  Jacob's  head  when 
he  saw  his  wonderful  vision.     Scota  prized  the 
L/ia  Fail  above  all  her  possessions,  and  no  wonder. 
Had  not  the  wise  men  of  her  native  land  foretold 
that  where  the  Lia  Fail  remained,  there  Scota's 
children  and  her  children's  children  for  untold 
generations  should  reign  as  kings  ? 


182  ST  MARGARET 

God  gave  the  exiles  clement  skies  and 
favourable  winds  and  guided  their  boats  through 
broad  and  narrow  seas  until,  one  sunny  day,  the 
entire  party  landed  on  the  west  coast  of  Erin. 
Scota  and  her  people — her  husband  has  left 
us  only  his  name — settled  down  in  the  Green 
Isle  of  the  West,  and  were  henceforward  known 
as  Scots,  or  the  followers  of  Scota. 

In  the  third  and  fourth  centuries  of  the 
Christian  era,  bands  of  their  descendants  seeking 
a  new  home,  crossed  the  North  Channel  and  took 
possession  of  Dalriada  or  Argyle.  Among  these 
adventurers  was  a  lineal  descendant  of  Scota, 
though  it  is  not  clear  how  many  generations 
separated  him  from  his  great  ancestress.  This 
prince  brought  with  him  from  Erin  the  great 
Lia  Fail,  and  his  descendants  the  kings  of 
Dalriada  preserved  it  with  reverent  care. 

When  in  844  A.D.  Kenneth  McAlpine  became 
King  of  both  Scots  and  Picts — the  two  chief  races 
in  Caledonia — he  was  crowned  at  Scone  on  the 
Stone  of  Destiny.  So,  too,  all  his  descendants 
were  crowned,  including  Malcolm  Canmore,  until 
Edward  I.  carried  the  Scottish  treasure  to 


ST  MARGARET  AND  THE  CROSS  183 

England  after  his  temporary  conquest  of 
Scotland.  The  "  Hammer  of  the  Scots  "  thought 
to  falsify  the  ancient  prophecy  and  placed  the 
Lia  Fail  in  the  English  Coronation  Chair  in 
Westminster  Abbey,  where  it  still  remains.  And 
yet,  if  the  old  tradition  is  true,  and  Scota  the 
ancestress  of  Malcolm  Canmore,  Edward  I.  was 
himself  one  of  her  descendants  through  Matilda, 
the  daughter  of  Malcolm  and  Margaret.  Further, 
when  James  Stuart,  son  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots, 
became  King  of  Great  Britain  he  got  the  famous 
stone  for  his  own  again  and  his  descendants  are 
still  crowned  on  it  in  Westminster  Abbey. 

After  Kenneth  McAlpine  there  appears  a 
shadowy  son  and  then  a  grandson  who  comes 
forth  into  the  light  at  the  battle  of  Carham  in 
1 01 8,  defeating  the  King  of  the  Lothians  and 
making  the  Tweed  the  boundary  between 
England  and  Scotland.  After  some  more  shadows 
Duncan  and  Macbeth  stand  out  in  strong  relief, 
for  they  are  known  to  all  the  world  in 
Shakespeare's  story,  and  yet  shadowy  still,  for 
the  poet's  tale  is  not  history. 

Malcolm  Canmore  is  the  first  King  of  Scotland 


184  ST  MARGARET 

that  we  can  call  a  real  historical  personage  and  he 
is  a  type  of  his  country  at  the  time  he  ascended 
the  throne — half-savage  still  and  with  the  faults 
and  failings  of  his  condition,  yet  full  of  noble 
aspirations  and  dormant  capabilities.  We  have 
seen  the  gentle  and  kindly  side  of  Malcolm's 
character  in  his  relations  with  his  beautiful  and 
saintly  wife,  but  there  was  another  and  a  sterner 
aspect.  It  needed  a  strong  man  to  rule  the 
Scotland  that  Canmore  wrested  from  Macbeth  at 
Dunsinane,  and  it  was  with  a  strong  hand  that 
the  victor  held  it.  The  wild  clansmen  of  the 
Highlands  feared  to  rouse  his  terrible  anger  and 
were  comparatively  peaceful  while  he  reigned, 
and  the  Northmen  thought  twice  before  they 
provoked  a  quarrel  with  the  fierce  Scottish 
king. 

The  Great  Head's  anger  was,  indeed,  something 
to  be  feared,  for  he  did  cruel  deeds  while  it  lasted 
— deeds  of  blood,  that  could  not  be  undone  in  spite 
of  after  penitence  and  remorse.  It  is  sometimes 
said  that  St  Margaret  got  all  the  good  things  of 
earth  as  well  as  of  heaven,  but  when  we  dwell  on 
the  seamy  side  of  her  husband's  character,  we  see 


ST  MARGARET  AND  THE  CROSS  185 

hovering  over  her  the  shadow  of  the  Cross.  The 
blithe  beautiful  being  who  filled  the  dull  rooms  of 
Dunfermline  Tower  and  Edinburgh  Castle  with 
life  and  light  and  gladness,  who  was  the  guardian 
angel  of  the  poor  and  wretched,  the  teacher  of  all 
things  good  and  lovely,  the  nursing-mother  of 
the  Church,  with  whom  all  things  seemed  to 
prosper — happy  wife,  mother,  queen — she  had 
her  sorrows,  too. 

St  Margaret  had  early  learnt  to  suffer  in 
silence,  for  the  sorrows  of  others  had  cast  their 
shadow  over  her  in  Hungary  and  also  in  England. 
In  Scotland,  too,  long  after  she  had  found  a  home 
there,  she  had  keen  anxieties  on  account  of  her 
brother  Edgar  Atheling,  who  continued  for  years 
to  be  an  exile  and  a  wanderer.  She  was  torn  in 
two  directions,  for,  while  she  longed  to  see  her 
brother  King  of  England,  she  hated  the  carnage 
and  bloodshed  that  attended  his  attempts  to  gain 
the  crown. 

The  descendant  of  a  race  of  kings  and  warriors, 
St  Margaret  was  fearless  as  any  of  them,  and  yet 
she  considered  war  to  be  a  terrible  evil.  Peace 
was  necessary  for  the  country  she  had  learned  to 


i86  ST  MARGARET 

love  as  her  own,  and  peace  was  almost  unknown  in 
it.  Now  to  the  north,  now  to  the  south,  King 
Malcolm  sallied  forth  with  fierce  elation,  to  do 
battle  with  his  own  rebels  or  with  Saxon  foes,  and 
his  wife  had  to  wave  her  kerchief  and  bid  him 
God-speed,  though  her  heart  was  breaking. 
Afterwards,  indeed,  weeping  before  the  altar, 
she  bemoaned  the  deeds  of  violence  that  she  knew 
were  being  done — the  sufferings  of  men,  women 
and  children  that  she  was  powerless  to  prevent. 
God  was  being  offended  and  she  could  do  nothing 
but  weep  for  it  and  offer  herself  as  a  victim  of 
expiation.  Her  influence  with  the  King  was 
feeble  enough  when  it  was  a  case  of  war.  She 
indeed  never  saw  his  face  convulsed  with  fury  as 
his  enemies  did.  It  had  ever  a  look  of  love  and 
reverence  as  it  turned  to  her,  even  when  the 
thought  of  the  coming  battle  sent  the  wild  blood 
coursing  through  his  veins.  He  would  smile  on 
her  as  she  remonstrated  and  would  tenderly  urge 
his  inability  to  stop  the  conflict.  Others  were  the 
aggressors,  perhaps,  as  in  the  affair  of  the  men  of 
Moray,  and  safety  depended  on  prompt  action ;  or 
it  might  be  that  the  attack  was  on  her  brother's 


ST  MARGARET  AND  THE  CROSS  187 

behalf,  and  surely  right  and  justice  were  on  his 
side. 

Moderation  and  gentle  dealing  with  the  con- 
quered could  be  promised  easily  enough,  but  the 
Queen  knew  full  well  that  when  Malcolm  was 
beyond  the  reach  of  her  influence  and  in  one  of 
his  fits  of  ungovernable  fury,  every  promise  would 
be  forgotten. 

Five  times  Malcolm  invaded  England  and  it  is 
little  wonder  that  English  writers  depict  him  as 
a  savage  and  a  barbarian — no  less  cruel  than  the 
heathen  Danes  of  old.  His  raids  were  terrible 
and  the  gentle  giant  of  Dunfermline  was 
unrecognisable  while  they  lasted.  He  laid  waste 
the  country  with  fire  and  sword,  slaying  without 
mercy  all  who  crossed  his  path — men,  women  and 
children,  "  like  swine  for  the  banquet "  as 
Simeon  of  Durham  tells  of  an  early  invasion. 
When  he  spared  any,  it  was  to  drive  them  before 
him  to  Scotland  like  a  herd  of  cattle,  that  they 
might  be  parcelled  out  as  slaves  among  his  own 
subjects.  The  same  Simeon  of  Durham  writes 
that  after  one  of  the  Scottish  King's  raids, 
"  there  was  not  a  village,  there  was  not  even  a 


i88  ST  MARGARET 

house  so  poor  but  could  boast  of  some  English 
captive  held  in  thraldom." 

St  Margaret  abhorred  slavery  and  spent  large 
sums  of  money  every  year,  as  we  have  seen,  in 
setting  poor  captives  free,  and  yet  she  had  to 
endure  all  this.  Nay !  she  had  to  appear  as  if 
she  did  not  see,  for  duty  and  love,  both  made  her 
welcome  her  husband  on  his  return  and  rejoice  in 
his  victory.  It  would  have  been  unseemly  to  meet 
him  with  reproaches  or  weep  for  his  captives  at 
such  a  time. 

Malcolm  never  had  to  complain  of  a  cold 
greeting  and  so  perhaps  it  was  the  easier  to  win 
him  to  penitence  and  pity.  Later  raids  were  not 
so  fierce  and  cruel  as  the  earlier  ones,  so  probably 
St  Margaret's  influence  had  some  effect  after  all. 

With  wondering  admiration  and  still  with  a 
twinkle  of  humour  in  his  eye  at  the  inconsistency, 
Malcolm  saw  the  Queen  taking  his  victims  under 
her  own  special  protection,  sending  them  home 
when  it  was  possible,  lightening  their  burdens 
when  it  was  not,  and  giving  material  help  as  well 
as  kindly  sympathy  to  all  whom  she  could  reach. 
The  Great  Head  made  no  objection  and  did  not 


ST  MARGARET  AND  THE  CROSS  189 

scruple  to  give  his  help  when  it  was  required. 
His  fury  died  out  with  the  end  of  his  raid. 

When  William  the  Conqueror  had  reduced 
England  to  something  like  submission,  he 
resolved  to  put  an  end  to  Canmore's  invasions  and 
to  teach  the  Scottish  King  that  a  Norman  was  not 
to  be  trifled  with.  William  invaded  Scotland  with 
a  large  army,  crossed  the  Forth  and  met  the  Scots 
at  Abernethy.  Malcolm's  forces  were  far  out- 
numbered by  William's  and  a  battle  would  have 
meant  crushing  defeat  for  the  Scots. 

Edgar  Atheling,  now  a  pensioner  of  the 
Norman  King,  happily  intervened  and  a  conflict 
was  averted.  ,  A  treaty  was  signed  instead,  by 
which  Malcolm  promised  to  disturb  English  peace 
no  more  and  to  do  homage  to  William  for  his 
English  territory  of  Cumberland.  It  was  only 
owing  to  the  good  offices  of  Edgar  Atheling  that 
the  Scots  obtained  such  easy  terms  and  they  were 
glad  enough  when  William  took  his  huge  army 
across  the  Border  again. 

On  this  occasion  it  was  scarcely  a  victory  that 
Malcolm  had  to  report  to  his  anxious  Queen,  but 
probably  she  saw  more  matter  for  thanksgiving 


190  ST  MARGARET 

in  it,  than  she  had  seen  in  any  of  his  victories. 
There  was  no  tale  of  bloodshed  and  no  train  of 
captives  and  the  treaty  just  signed  promised 
peace.  It  was  a  glorious  prospect  for  poor 
struggling  Scotland  which  had  so  long  been 
checked  in  her  growing  aspirations  by  war  and 
its  consequent  evils. 

No  parents  were  ever  more  blest  in  their 
children  than  Malcolm  Canmore  and  St  Margaret, 
and  though  the  good  Queen  did  not  live  to  see 
them  realise  in  manhood  and  womanhood  the  rich 
promise  of  childhood's  days,  the  promise  itself 
was  balm  to  the  mother's  heart.  Here,  too,  how- 
ever, there  was  the  shadow  of  the  Cross,  for  it 
appears  that  there  was  a  black  sheep  in 
St  Margaret's  little  flock.  The  story  is  confused 
and  we  cannot  get  exact  details,  but  it  seems  that 
Edmund,  the  second  son  of  St  Margaret,  was 
detected  in  something  like  treachery  and  dis- 
loyalty. It  must  have  been  serious,  for  evidently 
the  youth  was  stripped  of  his  royal  rank  and  right 
of  succession  as  a  punishment.  It  is  good  to  hear 
that  he  repented  and  did  penance,  for  Wynton 
and  Fordun  speak  of  him  as  a  "  man  of  gret 


ST  MARGARET  AND  THE  CROSS  191 

wertu  "  and  other  writers  tell  us  that  he  died  a 
monk  in  the  monastery  of  Montacute,  in 
Somersetshire. 

The  unfaithful  son  had  no  doubt  been  led  away 
by  bad  companions,  and  yet  we  hear  of  little  actual 
opposition  to  Malcolm  and  Margaret.  There  were 
occasional  growlings  indeed  in  the  north  and  west 
from  some  of  the  old  Celts  who  were  jealous  of 
the  growing  Saxon  influence,  and  Donald  Bane, 
Malcolm's  younger  brother,  was  ready  to  take 
advantage  of  any  unrest  on  his  own  behalf  as  soon 
as  an  opportunity  would  show  itself.  It  is 
possible  that  Donald  had  in  some  way  got  his 
young  nephew  into  his  power  and  so  led  him 
astray. 

The  Celtic  chiefs  had  some  reason  for  dis- 
content. They  saw  their  beloved  Gaelic  give 
place  to  Saxon  at  the  court  of  their  king,  Celt 
though  he  was,  and  beheld  all  the  places  of 
honour  there  filled  by  Saxon  men  and  women. 
The  country  south  of  the  Forth  and  Clyde  had 
been  to  them  as  a  foreign  land  and  now  it  was 
attaining  to  greater  importance  than  their 
beloved  Caledonia  itself.  Their  hearts  were  sore 


193  ST  MARGARET 

at  the  supposed  slight  given  to  their  dear  moun- 
tains and  at  the  loss  of  their  own  ascendancy. 
The  feeling,  however,  was  not  strong  enough  for 
rebellion  and  would  probably  have  expended  itself 
only  in  wild  outbursts  of  wrath  against  individual 
Sassenachs  as  it  has  often  done  since,  but  for  the 
ambitious  aspirations  of  Donald  Bane. 

There  is  no  evidence  whatever  of  any  antipathy 
to  the  fair  Saxon  Queen.  In  the  depths  of  these 
rugged  Celtic  hearts  there  was  admiration  for  her 
beauty  and  reverence  for  her  goodness  and 
appreciation  of  the  kindness  which  she  bestowed 
impartially  on  Celt  and  Saxon.  Malcolm  indeed 
was  blamed  often  enough  for  forgetting  his  old 
friends,  and  Celtic  mutterings  sometimes  reached 
even  to  the  court.  These  occasioned  the  good 
Queen  anxiety  and  sorrow  for  she  would  fain 
have  seen  Celt  and  Saxon,  united  in  one  people, 
laying  aside  race  rivalries  and  working  together 
for  their  country's  good. 

St  Margaret  was  sometimes  accorded  glimpses 
into  the  future.  Did  she  see  the  wonderful 
change  that  the  coming  ages  would  bring  about  ? 
Who  woulcl  have  dreamt  in  the  eleventh  century 


ST  MARGARET  AND  THE  CROSS  193 

of  a  time  when  the  descendants  of  St  Margaret, 
diiven  from  the  throne  by  the  Saxons  themselves, 
would  find  their  staunchest  allies  and  firmest 
friends  among  the  Celts  ? 


N 


CHAPTER  XIV 
sx  MARGARET'S  LAST  YEARS 

IN  the  last  years  of  her  life  St  Margaret  had  to 
endure  much  bodily  suffering.  Her  constant 
labours,  her  watchings,  her  abstinence  and 
austerities  had  worn  out  a  body  never  too  robust 
and  she  seems  to  have  fallen  into  a  lingering 
consumption. 

No  illness,  however,  could  impair  the  sweet 
strength  of  her  soul,  and  it  was  only  when  the 
increasing  weakness  of  her  poor  body  told  its  own 
secret  that  those  around  began  to  realise  that 
something  was  amiss.  Still  she  abated  nothing 
of  her  prayer  and  pious  reading,  her  almsgiving 
and  other  works  of  mercy.  Her  pains  and  failing 
strength  were  borne  as  if  unnoticed,  and  her 
attendants  marvelled  at  their  Queen's  courage 
and  tranquillity  as  they  saw  her  wasting  away 
before  their  eyes  from  day  to  day. 

194 


ST  MARGARET'S  LAST  YEARS  195 

Gradually  her  journeys  became  fewer  and 
shorter  as  she  found  herself  less  and  less  capable 
of  exertion.  Her  last  journey  must  have  been 
from  Dunfermline  to  Edinburgh,  for  she  died  in 
the  Maidens'  Castle,  and  one  of  her  confessors 
tells  that  for  six  months  before  the  period  of  her 
last  illness  she  was  unable  to  mount  a  horse. 

Though  the  good  Queen  disregarded  her 
sufferings  she  recognised  to  what  they  tended, 
but  death  has  no  terrors  for  those  whose  lives 
have  been  spent  in  God's  service. 

"  She  willingly  accepted,"  says  her  chronicler, 
"  with  patience  and  thanksgiving  the  pains  of  the 
flesh,  regarding  them  as  the  stripes  of  a  most 
loving  Father." 

As  she  grew  weaker  St  Margaret  began  to  live 
in  the  thoughts  of  heaven  and  to  detach  herself 
more  and  more  from  earthly  things  and  people. 
It  was  not  a  hard  task  for  one  who  had  always 
lived  "  in  the  world  but  not  of  it."  She  had 
worked  with  all  her  strength  while  it  was  day,  and 
now,  as  her  night  drew  near,  she  thirsted  after 
death,  saying  often,  in  the  words  of  the  Psalmist 
— ' '  My  soul  hath  thirsted  after  the  strong  living 


196  ST  MARGARET 

God;  when  shall  I  come  and  appear  before  the 
Face  of  God." 

Her  children  and  friends  hoped  against  hope 
and  dared  not  think  of  court  and  country  without 
her.  King  Malcolm,  intent  on  his  quarrels  with 
William  Rufus,  seems  not  to  have  realised  that 
his  wife  was  dying.  Her  weakness  was  so 
gradual  in  its  coming  that  he  probably  grew 
accustomed  to  it  and  forgot  the  vigour  of  former 
days,  and  then,  there  was  never  a  murmur  or  a 
complaint  to  suggest  to  him  that  this  weakness 
was  the  effect  of  suffering.  As  to  the  Queen  her- 
self it  does  not  seem  to  have  occurred  to  her  that 
her  death  would  be  a  calamity  for  her  family  and 
country.  She  was  but  an  instrument  in  God's 
hands,  and  He  could  work  through  others  when 
her  heart  had  ceased  to  beat. 

Turgot  parted  with  St  Margaret  nearly  a  year 
before  her  death.  Perhaps  she  left  him  at 
Dunfermline,  but  more  probably  he  was  obliged 
to  pay  a  lengthy  visit  to  Durham  Abbey,  of  which 
he  afterwards  became  Prior. 

"  It  would  seem,"  says  this  holy  man,  "that 
her  departure  from  the  world  and  certain  other 


ST  MARGARET'S  LAST  YEARS  197 

events  which  were  impending  had  been  known  to 
her  beforehand." 

It  is  certain  that  St  Margaret  was  convinced 
that  she  was  parting  from  her  old  friend  for  ever. 
A  great  sadness  weighed  her  down  as  arrange- 
ments were  made  for  his  going,  and  finally  she 
summoned  him  to  her  and  with  sighs  and  tears  of 
compunction  made  to  him  a  general  confession  of 
her  whole  life.  The  holy  man  wept  with  her, 
marvelling  at  her  close  union  with  God  and 
judging  himself  unworthy  to  be  associated  with 
one  so  holy  in  such  sacred  relationship.  At  last 
the  parting  came  and  both  the  Queen  and  her 
confessor  wept  anew.  For  twenty-four  years  they 
had  known  each  other  intimately  and  helped  each 
other  in  the  service  of  God,  and  both  knew  that 
their  next  meeting  would  be  in  heaven. 

"I  now  bid  you  farewell,"  said  the  Queen. 
"  I  shall  not  continue  much  longer  in  this  world, 
but  you  will  live  after  me  a  considerable  time. 
There  are  two  things  which  I  beg  of  you.  One  is 
that  as  long  as  you  survive  you  will  remember 
me  in  your  prayers ;  the  other  is  that  you  will 
take  some  care  about  my  sons  and  daughters. 


198  ST  MARGARET 

Lavish  your  affection  on  them ;  teach  them  above 
all  things  to  love  and  fear  God. 

"  When  you  see  any  of  them  exalted  to  the 
height  of  an  earthly  dignity,  then  at  once,  his 
father  and  his  master  in  the  truest  sense,  go  to 
him,  warn  him,  lest,  through  a  passing  honour, 
he  become  puffed  up  with  pride  or  offend  God  by 
avarice,  or  through  prosperity  in  this  world  for- 
get the  blessedness  of  the  life  which  is  eternal." 

Turgot  promised  through  his  tears  to  obey  her 
wishes  in  all  things  and  they  parted  as 
St  Margaret  had  foreseen  never  to  meet  again  on 
earth. 

After  the  Queen's  death  Turgot  became  Prior 
of  Durham  Abbey  and  in  1199,  when  her  son 
Alexander  was  King  of  Scotland,  the  Prior  was 
consecrated  Archbishop  of  St  Andrew's. 

St  Margaret's  work  was  finished  and  she  knew 
it.  Her  farewell  to  Turgot  was  her  last  will  and 
testament  and  now  she  had  only  to  wait  a  little 
longer  and  to  be  purified  by  suffering,  that  so 
having  drunk  to  the  dregs  of  her  Lord's  chalice, 
she  might  be  ready  at  His  call  to  enter  into  His 
glory. 


ST  MARGARET'S  DEATH 

WHEN  William  the  Conqueror  died,  he  was 
succeeded  by  his  son  William  Rufus.  This 
prince  had  never  approved  of  Cumberland  being 
a  Scottish  dependency,  and  as  soon  as  he  found 
himself  in  power,  he  resolved  to  wrest  from 
Malcolm  Canmore  every  foot  of  land  which  that 
King  possessed  south  of  the  Sol  way. 

Rufus  built  a  strong  castle  at  Carlisle  and  made 
other  warlike  preparations.  Canmore  soon  heard 
of  these  doings,  and  he,  too,  began  to  make  pre- 
parations, for  he  was  just  as  determined  to  keep 
Cumberland  as  the  English  King  was  to  take  it. 
He  would  invade  Northumberland  at  once  and 
punish  Rufus  for  breaking  the  Conqueror's 
treaty. 

Meantime,  the  Queen  was  in  Edinburgh  Castle 

with  her   children.      Edward   and   Edgar   were 

199 


200  ST  MARGARET 

splendid  princes,  stalwart  and  handsome  and  both 
distinguished  by  a  nobility  of  character  that 
promised  well  for  the  Scotland  of  the  future  if 
they  were  destined  to  rule  over  it.  Edward  had 
already  reached  man's  estate  and  was  eager  to 
follow  his  father  to  battle,  and  Edgar,  though  ever 
a  lover  of  peace,  had  plenty  of  courage  and  would 
not  be  left  behind,  stripling  though  he  was. 
Edmund  had  disappeared  from  the  royal  family 
circle  before  this  crisis  and  Ethelred,  the  third 
son,  was  also  gone.  One  chronicler  speaks  of  him 
as  being  at  a  later  date  Abbot  of  Dunkeld  and  the 
only  thing  further  that  history  tells  is  that  he 
was  buried  with  his  holy  mother  in  Dunfermline 
Abbey  Church. 

St  Margaret's  health  had  failed  considerably 
before  the  quarrel  with  William  Rufus  began,  and 
the  anxiety  she  had  to  endure  while  her  husband 
made  his  terrible  preparations,  told  severely  on 
her  weakened  frame.  All  her  sweet  buoyancy  of 
spirit  was  gone  and  for  the  first  time  in  her  life 
the  depression  and  mental  anguish  she  suffered 
made  itself  apparent  to  others.  For  once  she 
offered  a  prolonged  opposition  to  Malcolm's 


ST  MARGARET'S   DEATH        201 

design  and  pleaded  with  him  to  stay  at  home  and 
let  Rufus  work  his  will  with  Cumberland.  The 
poor  Queen's  expostulations  were  useless.  In 
spite  of  ' '  much  dissuading, ' '  King  Malcolm  per- 
severed in  his  determination,  tenderly  telling  his 
wife  that  illness  had  made  her  over-anxious. 
When  she  saw  that  the  King's  determination  was 
too  strong  to  be  shaken  St  Margaret  implored  that 
at  least  her  sons  might  be  left  with  her.  It  was 
all  in  vain.  The  boys  must  learn  to  act  like  men 
and  princes,  said  their  father,  but  it  was  only  a 
matter  of  a  few  days  or  weeks.  The  Queen  should 
ere  long  welcome  them  all  three  home  again 
with  banners  flying  and  a  glorious  tale  of 
victory. 

St  Margaret  was  neither  persuaded  nor 
consoled,  for  her  soul  was  dark  with  premonitions 
of  coming  evil,  but  she  had  to  acquiesce  in  her 
husband's  arrangements.  As  usual  her  submis- 
sion was  whole-hearted.  Her  own  hands,  weak  as 
they  were,  embroidered  the  King's  banner  and  she 
was  on  the  walls  surrounded  by  her  maidens  and 
children  to  wave  a  last  farewell. 

Anxious  days  followed,  during  which  the  poor 


202  ST  MARGARET 

sick  Queen  eagerly  looked  for  news  of  her  dear 
ones.  Riders  had,  of  course,  to  be  sent  back  with 
messages  and  it  seemed  to  the  waiting  wife  and 
mother  that  they  were  few  and  slow  in  coming. 
On  former  occasions  it  had  been  hard  enough  to 
think  of  her  husband  in  danger,  but  now  there 
were  her  two  young  sons  as  well — the  hope  of 
Scotland.  They  were  but  children  still  in  their 
anxious  mother's  eyes  and  they  were  all  untried 
in  the  terrible  game  of  war.  And  then — cruel 
remembrance — the  enemy  was  of  no  alien  race. 
The  Scots  had  gone  to  fight  against  her  own 
kindred,  for  though  the  leaders  of  the  English 
armies  were  Normans,  the  soldiers  were  for  the 
most  part  Saxon. 

The  November  of  1093  was  like  the  ordinary 
November  familiar  to  Edinburgh  people,  dull  and 
cheerless,  with  leaden  skies  and  dreary  drizzling 
rain.  The  weather  aggravated  the  Queen's 
malady  but  she  strove  to  continue  her  daily  duties 
and  was  only  very  reluctantly  induced  to  give  up 
some  of  her  penitential  exercises.  She  dragged 
herself  to  Mass  each  morning  in  her  chapel  on 
the  summit  of  the  cliff,  though  often  she  was 


ST    MARGARETS  CHAPEL,   EDINBURGH   CASTLE. 


[To  face  page  203. 


ST   MARGARET'S   DEATH        203 

so  weak  that  she  had  almost  to  be  carried  back  to 
her  chamber,  and  she  prayed  unceasingly. 

Troubles  multiplied  themselves  in  those 
gloomy  days.  Rumours  soon  reached  the  Castle 
that  another  enemy  had  risen  up  against  the  poor 
Queen  and  her  children,  more  unnatural  still  than 
the  English.  Donald  Bane,  Malcolm's  brother, 
at  the  head  of  a  band  of  malcontents,  stirred  up  by 
himself  for  purposes  of  ambition,  was  holding 
himself  ready  to  take  advantage  of  any  mishap  on 
the  English  frontier. 

Ill  as  she  was,  the  Queen  spent  hours  in  her 
chapel  after  this  news  came.  Prostrate  before  the 
altar  she  implored  God's  protection  for  her 
husband,  children  and  people  in  the  terrible  trial 
that  had  befallen  Scotland.  Her  own  life  was 
well-nigh  over  but  she  trembled  for  the  fate  of 
her  four  helpless  children  left  to  the  mercies  of 
their  vindictive  uncle,  should  anything  go  amiss 
in  England. 

In  God  she  placed  all  her  trust,  but  it  was  her 
hour  of  desolation,  and  even  in  prayer,  trials  were 
not  wanting.  There  at  the  altar,  where  she  had 
always  found  relief  in  communing  with  her  Lord, 


204  ST  MARGARET 

and  courage  to  bear  anxiety  and  disappointment 
with  tranquillity,  she  knelt  now,  dry  and  cold  and 
unconsoled.  The  sweet  sense  of  His  presence  was 
gone  and  she  felt  utterly  alone.  She  had  desired 
to  suffer  with  Christ  and  in  her  last  days 
especially  He  allowed  her  to  taste  of  the  bitterness 
of  His  Chalice  and  even  to  know  something  of  the 
awful  mental  anguish  that  wrung  from  Him  on 
the  cross  the  mysterious  words  "  My  God,  my 
God,  why  hast  Thou  forsaken  Me." 

Strange  gleams  of  the  future  and  of  distant 
happenings  came  to  St  Margaret  in  this  prayer  of 
desolation,  and  she  who  had  always  borne  sorrow 
and  pain  with  such  sweet  fortitude  was  weighed 
down  with  sadness  and  trouble.  Her  attendants 
scarcely  knew  how  to  act  in  the  strange  circum- 
stances. Their  gentle  mistress  had  always  been 
their  comforter  and  now  she  required  comfort 
from  them.  They  thronged  round  her  begging 
that  she  would  take  some  repose  and  spare  her 
poor  weak  body  and  they  spoke  hopefully  of  the 
speedy  return  of  the  King  and  the  end  of  all 
their  anxieties.  Their  mistress  thanked  them 
graciously,  as  was  her  custom,  for  their  love  and 


ST   MARGARET'S   DEATH        205 

thoughtfulness  but  would  not  join  in  their  hopeful 
talk  of  the  future. 

Presently  the  Queen's  confessor  came  to  talk 
with  her  and  when  he  spoke  of  the  King  and  the 
ariny ,  St  Margaret  gently  laid  her  hand  on  his  and 
said  in  clear  low  tones  as  if  speaking  to  herself 
rather  than  to  him  : — 

"  Perhaps,  to-day,  a  great  evil  has  fallen  on  the 
Scots,  such  as  has  not  happened  to  them  for  many 
ages  past." 

Astonishment  and  fear  took  hold  of  the  little 
group  of  children  and  attendants.  The  listeners 
had  fathers,  husbands  or  brothers  with  the  King 
and  a  chill  came  on  their  hearts  as  the  Queen 
spoke,  but  they  still  strove  to  be  cheerful  and  told 
their  royal  mistress  that  anxiety  and  bodily 
suffering  made  her  exaggerate  evil  possibilities. 
St  Margaret  only  smiled  sadly  and  returned  to 
the  chapel  to  pray. 

Meanwhile,  Malcolm  was  ravaging  Northumbria 
in  his  usual  fashion  when  he  met  his  death 
suddenly  and  unexpectedly.  The  ancient  story 
tells  that  he  laid  siege  to  Alnwick  and  that  the 
Northumbrians,  knowing  the  Great  Head  of  old 


2o6  ST  MARGARET 

and  despairing  of  holding  out  against  him, 
proposed  submission.  A  certain  Norman  knight, 
however,  thought  of  a  stratagem  for  ridding 
Alnwick  of  its  great  enemy.  They  would  indeed 
offer  submission  but  the  keys  would  only  be 
delivered  to  the  Scottish  King  in  person  and  he 
must  come  to  the  gates  to  receive  them. 

Nothing  loth,  Malcolm  appeared  before  the 
gates  without  delay  and  then  the  Norman  knight, 
pretending  to  present  the  keys  on  a  spear,  by  a 
sudden  movement  turned  the  weapon  on  the  King 
of  Scots  and  pierced  his  eye.  The  spear  pene- 
trated the  brain  and  Malcolm  fell  back  dead  while 
the  successful  Norman  returning  to  his  comrades 
bore  ever  after  the  name  of  Pierce-eye  or  Percy. 

Many  of  us  learnt  this  tale  in  history  in  the 
days  of  our  youth  and  yet  it  appears  to  be  but  a 
legend.  Mr  Freeman  says  that  Malcolm's  death 
occurred  near  the  spot  known  as  Malcolm's  Cross, 
from  a  road  erected  there  in  memory  of  the  dead 
King.  The  ruins  of  a  chapel  are  still  to  be  seen 
at  Malcolm's  Cross — another  relic  of  the  care  that 
his  children  had  for  his  soul.  The  River  Alne 
separates  this  ground  from  the  town  of  Alnwick 


ST   MARGARET'S   DEATH        207 

and  so  the  old  story  cannot  be  even  approximately 
true.  By  a  stratagem,  Freeman  tells  us,  which 
even  English  writers  consider  treacherous,  Earl 
Robert  of  Mowbray  led  his  forces  against  the 
King  of  Scots.  "  Malcolm  was  killed  and  with 
him  died  his  son  and  expected  heir,  Edward.  The 
actual  slayer  of  Malcom  was  his  gossip  Morel, 
Earl  Robert's  nephew  and  steward." 

The  Alne  was  swollen  by  heavy  rains  and,  in 
the  confusion  that  followed  Canmore's  death, 
those  of  his  army  who  escaped  English  swords 
perished  in  the  flooded  river.  Two  natives  put 
King  Malcolm's  body  on  a  cart  and  it  was  buried 
for  the  time  being  at  Tynemouth. 

With  only  a  miserable  remnant  of  his  father's 
gallant  army,  Prince  Edgar  returned  to  Scotland. 
It  was  a  gloomy  march  and  the  poor  boy  had  a 
sad  tale  of  disaster  to  tell  at  the  end  of  it.  Sorrow 
awaited  him,  too.  As  he  approached  Edinburgh 
Castle  his  mother  lay  dying  within  its  walls. 

It  was  four  days  since  she  had  spoken  the  words 
that  had  so  terrified  her  attendants.  She  seemed 
stronger  and  on  this  i6th  day  of  November  she 
went  to  her  oratory  to  Mass  as  usual.  "  And 


2o8  ST  MARGARET 

there  "  says  the  priest  who  attended  her  these 
last  days  "  she  took  care  to  provide  herself 
beforehand,  for  her  departure  was  now  near, 
with  the  Holy  Viaticum  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of 
Our  Lord." 

On  returning  to  her  chamber  St  Margaret 
became  so  ill  that  it  was  evident  to  all  death  was 
at  hand.  Her  body  began  to  grow  cold,  her  face 
was  ghastly  pale,  and  the  sweat  of  death  was  on 
her  brow.  The  royal  children  and  the  Queen's 
maidens  knelt  around  her  couch,  weeping  bitterly, 
She  spoke  to  them  lovingly  and  blessed  them  with 
her  feeble  hand,  but  she  retained  her  composure 
and  begged  her  chaplain  and  the  other  priests 
present  to  pray  for  her  departing  soul. 

Presently  she  asked  for  her  great  treasure  the 
Black  Rood  of  Scotland.  For  this  image  of  her 
Saviour  St  Margaret  had  a  special  love  because  it 
contained  a  portion  of  the  true  Cross  ' '  as  has  been 
proved  by  convincing  miracles,"  says  Aelred. 
Only  the  case  was  black,  for  the  cross  itself  was 
of  pure  gold  and  set  with  diamonds  of  great  size 
and  beauty.  Queen  Margaret  herself  had 
brought  it  to  Scotland  and  her  sons  afterwards 


ST   MARGARET'S   DEATH        209 

treasured  it  as  a  precious  relic  of  their  saintly 
mother.  David  I.  placed  it  in  Holy  rood  Abbey 
where  it  remained  until  the  invasion  of  Edward  I. 
who  carried  it  with  many  other  Scottish  treasures 
to  England.  Robert  the  Bruce  demanded  its 
restoration  with  such  vehemence  that  Queen 
Isabella,  the  mother  of  Edward  III.,  yielded  it  up 
to  him  when  the  Treaty  of  Independence  was 
signed  during  her  regency  in  1327.  The  English 
were  furious  and  could  more  easily  have 
pardoned  the  Regent  for  her  great  misdeeds  than 
for  her  complaisance  in  this  instance. 

St  Margaret's  attendants  had  some  difficulty  in 
opening  the  chest  which  contained  the  Black  Rood 
and  the  dying  Queen  sighed  deeply  at  the  delay. 

"  Unhappy  and  guilty  that  I  am,"  she  said 
softly  to  herself ;  ' '  shall  I  not  be  permitted  to 
look  once  more  on  the  Holy  Cross." 

At  last  the  crucifix  was  placed  in  her  trembling 
hands  and  she  looked  at  it  long  and  lovingly, 
signing  herself  with  it  from  time  to  time  and 
murmuring  tender  ejaculations  as  she  kissed  the 
sacred  wounds.  Presently  with  a  great  effort 

she  raised  it  in  both  hands  and  looking  at  the 

0 


210  ST  MARGARET 

crucified  figure  steadfastly  repeated  in  a  clear 
voice  the  whole  of  the  "  Miserere."  The  poor 
weak  hands  soon  sank  down  again,  but  still  they 
held  the  crucifix  and  still  the  Saint  prayed 
earnestly  though  life  was  ebbing  fast  away. 

Around  the  Castle  was  an  intense  silence.  The 
clouds  hung  in  the  sky  like  gloomy  curtains  and 
no  breath  of  wind  stirred  the  branches  of  the 
forest  trees.  The  sentinels  shivered  and  were 
conscious  of  something  weird  and  eerie  in  the 
stillness.  Within  the  death-chamber  there  was 
the  unceasing  murmur  of  prayer.  The  priests 
were  recommending  the  departing  soul  to  God 
and  the  Queen's  voice,  very  weak  now,  was  firmly 
joining  in  the  responses.  The  royal  children  and 
the  Queen's  maidens  had  given  up  trying  to  join 
in  the  prayers  and  were  weeping  quietly. 

Suddenly  the  outside  silence  was  broken.  The 
blast  of  a  horn  resounded  from  beyond  the  walls 
and  was  answered  by  the  warder  at  the  gates.  It 
was  a  royal  messenger  with  tidings  of  the  King 
and  the  army.  Something  seemed  to  warn  the 
sad  group  round  St  Margaret's  bed  that  the  news 
would  be  better  untold,  but  while  they  framed  the. 


ST   MARGARET'S   DEATH        211 

wish  in  their  hearts  that  the  Queen  might  be  kept 
in  ignorance  of  the  messenger's  arrival  Prince 
Edgar  entered  the  room. 

The  poor  boy  was  travel-stained  and  weary. 
His  heart  was  heavy  with  sorrow  at  the  loss  of  his 
father  and  brother  and  the  defeat  of  the  gallant 
Scottish  army.  He  was  overwhelmed,  moreover, 
with  the  thought  of  the  immense  responsibility 
that  had  fallen  on  his  young  shoulders  for  ill 
news  travels  fast  and  he  had  heard  on  his  way 
home  of  the  warlike  preparations  of  his  uncle 
Donald  Bane. 

Edgar  knew  that  his  mother  was  ill  and  entered 
her  chamber  resolving  to  tell  his  evil  tidings 
gently.  He  loved  her  dearly  and  his  only  hope 
amidst  his  terrible  difficulties  was  the  thought 
that  he  could  look  to  her  for  counsel  and  help. 
The  shock  was  unspeakable  when  he  saw  her 
lying,  as  was  evident,  at  the  point  of  death.  His 
message  was  forgotten  and  anguish  such  as  he 
had  not  yet  known  welled  up  in  his  heart,  till  he 
felt  that  it  must  break.  With  the  ready  hopeful- 
ness of  youth,  he  had  looked  on  his  mother's  ill- 
health  as  but  a  passing  ailment,  but  now  he  knew 


ST  MARGARET 

the  truth.    With  a  low  moan  he  sank  on  his  knees 

» 

by  the  Queen's  bed  and  burst  into  tears. 

St  Margaret  had  been  lying  still  and  silent 
since  the  horn  sounded,  and  she  seemed  uncon- 
scious of  what  was  passing  around,  but  suddenly 
she  rallied  and  looking  on  Edgar  with  wonderful 
calmness  and  no  apparent  surprise  asked  for  news 
of  his  father  and  brother. 

"  They  are  well,"  faltered  the  boy,  fearing  that 
if  he  were  to  tell  her  suddenly  of  their  death  she, 
too,  would  die.  She  sighed  deeply  and  placed  her 
thin  hand  lovingly  on  her  son's  bent  head  and 
then  she  spoke  again. 

"  I  know  it,  my  boy,  I  know  it  "  she  said. 
"  And  now,  by  this  Holy  Cross,  by  the  bond  of 
our  blood,  I  adjure  you,  Edgar,  to  tell  me  the 
truth.  How  fares  it  with  the  King  and  my 
Edward?" 

The  prince  attempted  no  more  concealment. 

"  The  King  and  Edward  are  both  slain,"  he 
said,  and  in  a  voice  broken  by  weeping  he  told  the 
story  of  the  treachery  of  the  English  and  his 
brave  father's  death. 

The  boy's  recital  was  often  interrupted  by  the 


ST   MARGARET'S   DEATH        213 

sobs  of  the  children  and  attendants,  but  the  Queen 
heard  it  in  silence  with  her  hands  and  eyes  raised 
to  heaven. 

Gradually  it  dawned  on  all  present  excepting 
Prince  Edgar  that  the  Queen  was  hearing  no 
news.  She  had  seen  in  vision  the  death  of  her 
husband  and  first-born  son.  As  the  youth  told 
the  day  and  hour  of  his  father's  death,  they 
recalled  the  prophetic  words  that  had  so  startled 
them  four  days  earlier  : — 

"  Perhaps  to-day  a  great  evil  has  fallen  on  the 
Scots,  such  as  has  not  happened  to  them  for  many 
ages  past." 

When  the  dying  Queen  had  heard  her  son  to 
the  end,  she  remained  for  a  short  space  rapt  in 
silent  prayer  and  then  she  said  aloud  : — 

"  All  praise  be  to  Thee,  Almighty  God,  who 
hast  been  pleased  that  I  should  endure  such  deep 
sorrow  at  my  departing,  and  I  trust  that  by  means 
of  this  suffering,  it  is  Thy  pleasure  that  I  should 
be  cleansed  from  the  stains  of  my  sins.*' 

Death  was  very  near  now  and  St  Margaret 
knew  it.  Once  more  she  looked  lovingly  at  each 
dear  face  around  her  bed  and  strove  to  raise  her 


214  ST  MARGARET 

feeble  hand  in  blessing.  It  was  the  poor  mother's 
last  farewell.  Presently  she  began  the  prayer 
uttered  by  the  priest  in  the  Mass,  before  He 
receives  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ. 

"Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  she  prayed,  "Who, 
according  to  the  will  of  the  Father,  through  the 
co-operation  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  hast  by  Thy 
death  given  life  to  the  world,  deliver  me." 

As  she  uttered  the  words  "  Deliver  me  "  her 
pure  soul  was  indeed  delivered  from  the  prison  of 
the  body  "  and  departed  to  Christ,  the  Author  of 
true  liberty." 

Thus  died  the  saintly  Margaret,  Princess  of 
Hungary  and  England,  and  Queen  of  Scotland, 
on  i6th  November,  1093,  in  the  forty-eighth  year 
of  her  age. 

The  account  of  her  holy  death  was  given  to 
Turgot  by  the  priest  who  assisted  her  on  her 
death-bed  and  who  was  probably  the  Theodoric, 
so  often  confused  with  Turgot.  "  She  loved 
him  "  says  the  latter  "  more  intimately  than  the 
others  on  account  of  his  simplicity  and 
innocence." 

The  priest,  on  his  part,  was  so  affected  by  the 


ST   MARGARET'S   DEATH        215 

Queen's  holiness  and  so  touched  by  her  death 
that  he  became  a  monk  in  the  Abbey  of  Durham 
and  offered  his  sacrifice  for  the  repose  of  her  soul. 

When  the  Queen  was  dead,  the  ghastly  pallor 
left  her,  and  with  it  the  traces  of  the  anguish  and 
pain  that  she  had  suffered  in  her  last  hour.  Her 
sweet  face  was  serene  and  tranquil  in  death  and 
suffused  with  fair  and  warm  hues  so  that  as  those 
who  saw  her  reported — * '  It  seemed  as  if  she  were 
not  dead  but  sleeping." 

For  centuries  after  the  Queen's  death  her  room 
was  preserved  pretty  much  as  she  left  it.  In  the 
days  of  the  early  Stewarts  it  was  still  known  as 
"  The  Blessed  Margaret's  Chamber." 


CHAPTER  XVI 

ST  MARGARET'S  BURIAL 

HISTORY  has  little  to  say  of  the  career  of  Donald 
Bane  or  the  Fair-haired,  during  the  lifetime  of 
Malcolm  Canmore.  Shakespeare  tells  that  he 
fled  to  Ireland  when  his  father  Duncan  was 
murdered,  and  we  do  not  hear  his  name  in  con- 
nection with  Malcolm's  successful  attack  on 
Dunsinane.  It  appears  that  he  came  seldom,  if 
ever,  to  court  and  that  disaffected  Celts  might 
always  count  on  his  sympathy.  His  where- 
abouts were  uncertain  and  vague  suggestions  of 
impending  evil  came  with  his  name,  and  so  he 
hovered  about  among  the  mountains  like  a  bird 
of  ill-omen,  waiting  for  his  opportunity. 

Many  a  time  he  had  seen  his  brother  go  south 
with  banners  flying  and  had  looked  and  hoped 

for  news  of  disaster,  only  to  hear  instead  the  wild 

216 


ST  MARGARET'S  BURIAL        217 

shouts  of  triumph  that  greeted  the  returning 
victor. 

In  1093  Donald  had  organised  quite  an  exten- 
sive conspiracy,  for  at  last  Fate  seemed  to  favour 
his  designs.  The  Queen,  whose  influence  he 
knew  and  feared,  was  ill — perhaps  dying.  The 
King  had  gone  to  fight  against  great  odds,  and 
with  him  were  all  his  most  devoted  friends  and 
followers  and  also  his  eldest  son  Edward, 
regarded  generally  as  the  heir  of  Scotland. 

It  does  not  appear  that  Donald  Bane's  contin- 
gent of  Celts  was  a  strong  one  in  spite  of  race 
jealousies,  but  here,  too,  Fate  favoured  the  adven- 
turer. Malcolm  Canmore  had  in  this  last  year 
of  his  reign  ceded  the  Western  Isles  again  to  the 
King  of  Norway.  His  reason  for  doing  so  is  not 
clear,  but  he  may  have  thought  that  his  English 
enterprise  was  enough  for  the  time  being,  and 
Cumberland  was  certainly  more  valuable  than 
the  Hebrides.  Whatever  his  reasons,  the  result 
showed  itself  at  once  in  a  great  influx  of  North- 
men, and  Donald  Bane  resolved  to  attach  them 
to  himself.  He  appealed  to  the  King  of  Norway 
for  help  and  promised  him  in  the  event  of  success 


2i8  ST  MARGARET 

all  the  Western  Islands  that  were  not  already 
his,  including  Bute  and  Arran.  Donald  thus 
found  himself  at  the  head  of  a  considerable  army 
mainly  composed  of  hordes  of  Norwegians  and 
half -savage  clansmen  from  Bute  and  the  Islands. 

No  sooner  was  Queen  Margaret  dead  than  con- 
sternation spread  abroad  among  the  inmates  of 
the  Castle.  Donald  Bane,  whose  very  name 
they  dreaded,  was  at  the  gates  and  clamouring 
for  admittance.  The  fortress  was  strong  and 
the  enemy  might  indeed  be  kept  out  for  a  long 
time,  but  hunger  would  compel  them  to  admit 
him  eventually  and  then.  .  .  .  Woe  to  the 
royal  children  !  There  was  little  doubt  but  that 
Donald  Bane,  once  admitted,  would  follow  the 
ancient  savage  usage  and  sweep  his  helpless 
nephews  and  nieces  remorselessly  from  his  path. 

He  was  not  to  reach  them,  however.  The 
good  Queen  had  still  a  care  for  her  children,  and 
was  watching  over  them  from  Heaven.  All 
within  the  Castle  walls  were  faithful  and  true, 
and  so  brief  councils  were  held  and  followed  by 
speedy  action.  The  assailants  were  at  the  gates 
only,  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  fortress,  for  they 


ST  MARGARET'S  BURIAL        219 

evidently  considered  escape  on  any  other  side  a 
sheer  impossibility.  Suddenly  the  air  became 
hazy  and  a  "  great  myst  "  crept  up  from  the  sea, 
enveloping  rock  and  forest  in  its  clammy 
embrace.  Those  who  are  acquainted  with  Edin- 
burgh mists  and  Edinburgh  Castle  cliffs  will 
scarcely  be  surprised  that  Donald  Bane  con- 
sidered them  safe  custodians  for  his  poor  little 
prisoners  and  intended  victims.  Besides,  the 
inmates  of  the  Castle  were  mainly  priests, 
women  and  children,  and  it  was  unseemly  that 
great  warriors  should  waste  time  and  strategy  on 
such  weak  enemies.  Better  far  to  assemble  in 
full  force  before  the  gates,  to  effect  an  entrance 
by  striking  terror  to  the  hearts  of  those  within 
and  then  to  work  their  will. 

"Man  proposes — but  God  disposes,"  and  He 
also  helps  the  weak  who  trust  in  Him.  While 
the  besiegers  battered  at  the  gates,  the  body  of 
St  Margaret,  "shrouded  as  became  a  Queen," 
was  carried  through  a  postern  on  the  west  and 
lowered  with  reverence  and  care  down  the  great 
wall  of  rock.  Somehow — for  the  tale  has  never 
been  told  in  detail,  the  royal  children  and  their 


220  ST  MARGARET 

attendants  followed,  and  when  at  last  Donald 
iBane  effected  an  entrance  to  the  fortress,  his  prey 
had  flown. 

The  "  great  myst  "  for  which  the  fugitives 
thanked  God  as  for  something  miraculous 
covered  their  flight  down  the  cliffs  and  through 
the  forest  to  the  Queen's  Ferry.  True,  a  mist  in 
November  is  no  great  miracle  in  Edinburgh  as 
modern  writers  take  care  to  point  out,  but  that  of 
1093  helped  the  royal  children  and  their  protec- 
tors as  effectively  as  if  their  enemies  had  been 
struck  blind,  and  the  providence  of  God  is  shown 
by  little  things  as  well  as  by  great.  The 
children  of  St  Margaret  had  been  taught  to  seek 
God's  help  in  all  things,  and  there  was  nothing 
remarkable  in  their  thinking  that  He  sent  the 
"  great  myst  "  specially  for  them. 

It  seems,  indeed,  more  remarkable,  that  the  mist 
helped  instead,  of  hindering  them.  The  Castle 
rock  is  not  an  inviting  stair  in  broad  daylight 
and  a  clear  atmosphere,  and  the  fugitives  came 
down  in  the  misty  dusk  and  yet  they  were 
unscathed.  They  made  their  way,  too,  through 
the  gloomy  woods  and  across  the  Forth  to  loyal 


ST  MARGARET'S  BURIAL        221 

Fife.  It  was  a  sorrowful  little  party — the  dead 
Queen  carried  by  her  faithful  friends,  the  little 
children  deprived  within  the  last  few  days  of 
father,  brother  and  mother,  and  poor  Edgar,  now 
the  head  of  the  family  and  but  a  boy  himself. 
The  priest  who  directed  the  undertaking  did  a 
wonderful  thing  in  carrying  out  his  plan  so  suc- 
cessfully. The  wild  men  of  Argyle  and  Bute 
were  lurking  among  the  forest  trees  like  beasts 
of  prey,  but  they  saw  nothing  save  the  white  mist 
and  heard  nothing  but  the  distant  murmur  of  the 
sea.  Thus  in  secret,  hidden  by  the  darkness 
and  the  mist,  was  St  Margaret's  sacred  body 
borne  across  the  sea  to  Dunfermline  and  buried 
in  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  which  she 
herself  had  built.  There,  says  her  chaplain,  it 
was  committed  to  the  grave,  "  opposite  the  altar 
and  the  venerable  sign  of  the  Holy  Cross  which 
she  had  erected." 

"  Before  the  rude  altar  with  honour 
She  was  laid  in  holy  sepulchre; 
There  her  lord  was  laid  also; 
And  with  them  their  sons  two, 
Edward  the  First  and  Ethelred." 

So  the  story  is  told  in  Wynton's  chronicle.     It 


222  ST  MARGARET 

was  not,  however,  until  twenty  years  later  that 
Malcolm's  remains  were  brought  to  rest  with 
those  of  his  Queen.  He  was  buried  as  we  have 
seen  at  Tynemouth  in  1093,  but  in  1115  his  son 
Alexander  I.,  then  King  of  Scotland,  had  his 
body  and  that  of  Prince  Edward  carried  back  to 
Scotland  and  buried  in  Dunfermliue.  David  I., 
St  Margaret's  youngest  son,  who  covered  Scot- 
tish land  with  churches  and  abbeys,  almost 
rebuilt  the  sacred  edifice  erected  by  his  parents. 
By  the  time  he  came  to  the  throne,  Durham 
cathedral  had  risen  in  all  its  beauty  and  had 
probably  suggested  to  the  King  the  form  of  the 
splendid  structure  which  he  raised  in  honourable 
memory  of  his  illustrious  parents. 

A  hundred  years  later  Alexander  II.  made 
further  additions  and  improvements  and  the 
beautiful  abbey  church  remained  much  as  he  left 
it  until  the  destructive  days  of  the  Reformation. 

In  1250  Queen  Margaret  was  solemnly 
canonised  by  Pope  Innocent  IV.,  but  she  had  been 
canonised  by  public  opinion  for  one  hundred  and 
fifty  years  before  that  date.  As  the  people  had 
loved  her  and  sought  her  help  in  life,  so  their 


ST  MARGARET'S  BURIAL        223 

children  honoured  her  and  sought  her  help 
after  her  death.  In  the  centuries  that  followed, 
when  her  sons  were  building  up  a  splendid  Scot- 
land on  the  foundations  she  had  laid,  men  and 
women  spoke  of  and  trusted  in  the  "  good 
Q.ueen  "  as  if  she  had  been  a  living  friend  of 
unlimited  resources  and  also  of  unlimited  good- 
will. The  simple  Scots  of  Catholic  days  brought 
all  their  troubles  great  and  small  to 
St  Margaret's  tomb,  and  when  help  and  comfort 
came  in  answer  to  their  prayers  there  was  ever  a 
heartfelt  "  Thanks  to  God  and  the  good  Queen." 
St  Margaret's  body  had  not  been  long  in  the 
Church  of  the  Holy  Trinity  when  the  poor  found 
their  way  to  her  grave,  and  wonderful  stories 
were  told  of  favours  granted  to  these  unfortun- 
ates who  were  evidently  the  Queen's  favourites 
in  death  as  they  had  been  in  life.  They  had 
never  been  sent  away  empty-handed  from  her 
palace  doors,  nor  were  they  from  her  tomb. 

It  was  from  these  poor  ones  kneeling  beside 
their  dear  Saint's  remains  that  a  tale  first  came 
of  an  exquisite  shimmering  silvery  light  that 
hovered  over  the  Queen's  grave  and  filled  th§ 


224  ST  MARGARET 

church  with  a  soft  radiance.  Great  numbers 
saw  it  at  different  times  and  were  strangely 
moved,  so  that  they  felt  constrained  to  make  their 
peace  with  God  and  to  strive  after  greater 
sanctity  of  life  in  future. 

On  iQth  June,  1250,  the  year  in  which  her 
canonisation  took  place,  St  Margaret's  body  was 
taken  from  its  first  resting-place  and  placed  in  a 
silver  shrine,  richly  adorned  with  precious 
stones.  In  the  newly  built  "  Lady  Aisle  "'  a 
splendid  receptacle  had  been  prepared  for  the 
shrine.  It  consisted  of  a  double  plinth  of  marble 
from  the  upper  of  which  rose  "  six  slender  shafts 
of  shapely  stone,"  supporting  a  highly  orna- 
mented canopy.  Under  this  canopy  the  shrine 
was  to  stand.  There  is  yet  one  legend  to  be  told 
in  connection  with  St  Margaret,  and  it  has  refer- 
ence to  the  translation  of  her  relics. 

The  new  shrine  was  prepared  and  the  Abbey 
Church  of  Dunfermline  was  filled  to  overflowing 
with  a  devout  congregation  all  eager  to  do  honour 
to  St  Margaret,  whose  dear  name  had  at  last  been 
added  to  the  glorious  roll  of  the  saints  of  Mother 
Church.  When  the  grave  was  opened  a  delicate 


ST  MARGARET'S  BURIAL        225 

fragrance  as  of  sweet-smelling  flowers  came  forth 
from  the  sacred  remains,  filling  the  church  and 
delighting  those  present.  Reverently  the  privi- 
leged bearers  raised  the  body  of  the  Saint  and  the 
procession  moved  onward  towards  the  Lady 
Aisle.  But  behold  a  marvel !  As  the  proces- 
sion reached  the  spot  where  rested  the  body  of 
Malcolm  Canmore,  brought  back  from  North- 
umbria,  something  went  amiss.  The  bearers  of 
the  Queen's  body  felt  their  sacred  burden  sud- 
denly grow  heavy  as  lead  and  were  obliged  to  rest 
it  on  the  ground.  Aid  was  immediately  forth- 
coming, but  it  was  of  no  avail,  and  consternation 
filled  the  church.  Presently  a  voice  was  heard 
and  an  old  monk,  himself  near  death,  was  seen 
standing  with  his  trembling  hand  extended 
towards  St  Margaret's  body. 

"  The  Queen  desires,"  he  said  in  shaking 
accents,  "that  in  death  her  husband  should 
share  her  honours  as  ui  life  she  shared  his." 

It  was  an  age  of  taith,  and  marvels  of  this  kind 
were  scarce  considered  marvellous.  Without 
more  ado  other  bearers  were  summoned  and  told 

to  raise  the  body  of  King  Malcolm  and  place  it 

P 


226  ST  MARGARET 

beside  that  of  his  Queen.  It  was  done,  and  lo  !  the 
Queen's  body,  now  light  as  a  feather,  was  easily 
carried  to  its  beautiful  resting-place. 

Poor,  faulty  Malcolm  !  It  was  thus  through 
her  whom  he  had  loved  and  reverenced  so  much 
on  earth,  that  he  gained  after  death  an  honour 
to  which  of  himself  he  had  small  title.  Who 
shall  doubt  that  St  Margaret's  intercession  had 
already  brought  his  soul  through  purgatorial 
fires  to  share  her  bliss  in  Heaven? 

From  1250  to  1560  lights  were  kept  perpetu- 
ally burning  before  St  Margaret's  shrine  and 
frequent  mention  is  made  in  the  ancient  registers 
of  Dunfermline  of  donations  given  for  this  pur- 
pose. For  three  hundred  years  the  abbey 
church  was  a  place  of  pilgrimage,  and  grateful 
Scottish  hearts  poured  out  thanks  to  God  for 
favours  granted  at  her  shrine,  and  through  her 
intercession.  When  John  Knox's  followers  were 
abroad,  spreading  the  "  pure  Gospel  >:  by 
destruction  and  plunder,  the  faithful  Catholics 
feared  the  remains  of  their  beloved  Saint  and 
patron  would  be  treated  with  contumely,  and  so 
they  secretly  removed  them,  The  Reformers 


[To  face  page  226. 


ST  MARGARET'S  BURIAL        227 

came,  and  finding  the  treasure  gone,  revenged 
themselves  by  expending  their  fnry  on  the 
marble  tomb,  breaking  into  fragments  the  pillars 
and  canopy  that  their  ancestors  had  so  lovingly 
fashioned  for  the  good  Queen.  The  double 
plinth  of  marble  resisted  their  hammers  and  it 
may  still  be  seen  in  the  churchyard  of  Dunferm- 
line  Abbey. 

When  the  relics  of  St  Margaret  were  carried 
away  from  Dunfermline  Abbey,  the  head  with  its 
long  fair  hair  was  brought  to  Mary  Queen  of 
Scots,  then  in  Edinburgh.  After  her  flight  to 
England,  a  Benedictine  monk  had  the  relic  in  his 
keeping  for  a  long  time,  and  from  his  hands  it 
passed  into  those  of  the  Jesuits.  Finally  it  was 
translated  to  the  Scots  College,  Donay,  and  was 
seen  there  in  1785,  still  with  its  fair  hair  in  won- 
derful preservation.  It  disappeared  during  the 
confusion  of  the  French  Revolution.  Other  por- 
tions of  the  holy  Queen's  relics  were  given  to 
Philip  II.,  King  of  Spain,  and  placed  by  him  in 
the  Church  of  St  Lawrence  at  the  Escurial. 
During  the  Pontificate  of  Pius  IX.  the  bishops  of 
Scotland  asked  for  permission  to  bring  these 


228  ST  MARGARET 

relics  to  Scotland  in  order  that  their  beloved 
Saint  might  again  be  duly  honoured  in  the 
country  of  her  adoption.  The  permission  was 
readily  granted,  but  the  relics  could  not  be  found 
or,  at  all  events,  identified.  Thus  it  happens 
that  no  part  of  St  Margaret's  sacred  body  is 
known  to  be  in  the  country  where  she  wore  an 
earthly  and  won  a  heavenly  crown. 

St  Margaret  died  on  November  i6th,  and  for 
nearly  three  hundred  years  after  her  canonisa- 
tion the  Church  kept  her  feast  on  that  day. 
During  the  turbulent  days  of  the  Reformation 
there  was  a  change  and  the  reason  for  it  is  not 
clear.  The  loth  of  June  was  substituted  for  the 
1 6th  of  November.  Mary  of  Guise,  the  mother 
of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  died  on  the  loth  of  June 
and  as  the  faithful  Catholics  of  Scotland 
regarded  this  Queen-Regent  as  a  saint,  some 
writers  assign  this  as  a  reason  for  the  change. 
After  the  Union  of  the  Crowns  the  few  who  still 
kept  the  feast  seem  to  have  returned  to  the 
ancient  date,  but  in  the  eighteenth  century 
June  loth  is  again  St  Margaret's  Day. 
James  Stuart,  the  old  Pretender,  had  a  great 


ST  MARGARET'S  BURIAL        229 

devotion  to  the  Saint,  and  he  preferred  the  loth 
of  June  because  it  happened  to  be  his  own  birth- 
day. He  was  exiled  and  lonely,  and  the  Pope — 
thus  Highlanders  tell  the  story — changed  the 
date  of  the  feast  to  give  him  pleasure.  There 
were  few  Scottish  Catholics  left  then  to  be 
interested  or  to  make  objections. 

For  nearly  two  hundred  years  St  Margaret's 
Feast  was  kept  on  June  loth,  but  when,  a  few 
years  ago,  there  was  a  thorough  revision  of  the 
Scottish  Calendar,  it  was  decided  to  place  the 
feast  on  the  day  of  the  holy  Queen's  death. 

Throughout  Scotland  the  feast  of  St  Margaret 
is  now  kept  on  November  i6th.  It  is  held  in 
great  esteem  by  Scottish  Catholics,  i.nd  we  hope 
and  pray  that  a  time  is  coming  when  the  great 
and  good  Queen  will  be  known  and  loved  as  she 
ought  to  be  in  the  country  of  her  adoption  and 
when  her  feast  will  again  be  a  red-letter  day  in 
Scotland  as  it  was  before  the  Reformation. 


ST  MARGARET'S  CHILDREN 

WHILE  Donald  Bane  was  making  sure  of  his 
position  in  Edinburgh  and  striving  to  maintain 
something  like  order  among  the  ill-assorted  divi- 
sions of  his  army,  the  good  Queen's  burial  had 
quietly  been  effected  in  Dunfermline  and  the 
royal  children  were  safely  over  the  Border  before 
their  uncle  had  time  to  give  them  more  of  his 
attention. 

Edgar  Atheling  seems  at  this  period  to  have 
possessed  both  position  and  influence  in  England 
for  he  was  able  to  protect  his  three  nephews,  to 
provide  for  the  suitable  completion  of  the  educa- 
tion of  the  younger  ones,  and  finally  to  assist 
Edgar  to  ascend  the  throne  of  Scotland. 

The   young   princesses,    Matilda    and   Mary, 

were  conducted  to  the  Convent  where  their  aunt, 

230 


ST    MARGARET'S    CHILDREN     231 

Princess  Christina,  was  now  Prioress.  They 
had  been  carefully  educated  by  their  saintly 
mother,  and  were  refined  and  accomplished,  as 
well  as  virtuous  and  beautiful  maidens.  The 
Prioress  took  care  that  her  sister's  work  should 
be  suitably  completed  and  both  St  Margaret's 
daughters  proved  worthy  children  of  such  a 
mother.  Princess  Matilda  was  especially 
beautiful,  and  to  save  her  from  the  unwelcome 
attentions  of  the  rough  young  nobles  whom  she 
was  occasionally  obliged  to  meet,  her  prudent 
aunt  insisted  on  her  wearing  a  veil  like  those  of 
the  nuns.  The  Princess  strongly  objected,  and, 
as  she  had  a  decided  will  of  her  own,  there  were 
some  comparatively  stormy  interviews  between 
herself  and  the  Prioress.  It  was  no  question  of 
being  a  nun.  Both  Princesses  were  devoted  to 
piety  and  works  of  charity,  as  might  have  been 
expected  of  St  Margaret's  daughters,  but  neither 
showed  any  inclination  for  the  religious  life,  and 
this  the  Prioress  recognised. 

Henry  I.  of  England  sought  the  hand  of 
Princess  Matilda  in  marriage  presently,  and 
with  the  approval  of  the  Prioress  and  the 


232  ST  MARGARET 

brothers  of  the  young  Princess  an  engagement 
was  entered  on.  No  marriage  could  have  been 
more  suitable,  for  it  united  the  ancient  dynasty 
and  the  new,  but  Norman  jealousy  was  excited 
at  the  prospect  and  the  barons  of  the  new  order 
tried  their  best  to  prevent  the  union.  As  no 
other  objection  could  be  thought  of,  they  declared 
that  the  Princess  "  had  been  veiled  "  in  the 
convent  and  was  not  free  to  marry. 

Matilda  herself  explained  how  and  why  she 
had  been  "veiled"  and  declared  that  she  had 
never  taken  vows  or  thought  of  taking  them, 
knowing  as  she  did  that  God  had  not  called  her 
to  a  religious  life.  The  Prioress  upheld  her 
niece,  and  St  Anselm  not  only  declared 
Princess  Matilda  free  to  marry,  but  performed 
the  marriage  ceremony  himself,  and  crowned 
St  Margaret's  eldest  daughter  as  Queen  of 
England. 

This  incident  is  often  a  stumbling-block  to 
writers  who  do  not  understand  religious  voca- 
tion. The  attitude  of  the  Princess  showed  no 
disrespect  either  to  the  convent  or  to  religion,  but 
simply  the  determination  not  to  be  forced  by 


ST   MARGARET'S    CHILDREN    233 

accidental  circumstances  into  a  life  for  which  she 
had  no  inclination.  Never  had  England  a  better 
Queen  !  As  a  child  she  had  been  associated  with 
her  saintly  mother  in  her  works  of  mercy  and 
charity,  and  had  been  taught  by  example  as  well 
as  by  precept  that  a  Queen  should  be  as  a  mother 
to  the  poor  and  wretched.  In  her  high  station 
Matilda  lost  no  time  in  showing  how  well  she  had 
profited  by  St  Margaret's  lessons.  Her  spirit  of 
penance  and  prayer  was  scarcely  less  remarkable 
than  that  of  her  holy  mother,  she  was  a  devoted 
friend  to  priests  and  religions,  encouraging  them 
to  be  zealous  for  the  good  of  the  Church  and  help- 
ing them  by  rich  gifts,  and  she  was  so  kind  and 
good  to  the  poor  and  so  winning  and  affable  in 
her  intercourse  with  people  of  every  rank  that 
she  was  devotedly  loved  by  all,  and  spoken  of 
during  her  life  and  after  her  death  as  "  the  good 
Queen  Maud." 

Mary,  the  younger  Princess,  married  Eustace, 
Count  of  Boulogne,  and  her  daughter  also 
became  Queen  of  England  for  she  married 
Stephen,  the  nephew  of  Henry  I. 

As      has      been      already      told,      three     of 


234  ST  MARGARET 

St  Margaret's  sons  became  in  turn  Kings  of 
Scotland.  Donald  Bane  indeed  succeeded  in  his 
attempt  to  seize  the  supreme  power  at  Malcolm's 
death,  but  his  reign  was  short  and  stormy. 
Prince  Duncan,  Malcolm  Canmore's  son  by  his 
first  wife,  had  been  given  to  William  the 
Conqueror  as  a  hostage  to  ensure  the  fidelity  of 
the  Scottish  King  to  the  pledges  of  Abernethy, 
and  so  had  grown  to  manhood  in  England. 
William  Rufius  knew  Duncan  well,  and  prefer- 
ring him  to  Donald  Bane  as  a  neighbour,  he  sent 
him  north  with  an  army  to  take  the  Crown  from 
his  uncle.  Donald  Bane  was  defeated  and 
Duncan  became  King,  but  his  reign,  like 
the  preceding  one,  was  brief  and  troubled. 
Donald  Bane  reappeared,  and  according  to  some 
authorities  brought  with  him  Edmund,  the 
unfaithful  son  of  St  Margaret.  Duncan  was 
killed  in  a  somewhat  mysterious  manner,  and 
Donald  Bane  again  assumed  the  kingship,  divid- 
ing his  territory  with  Edmund. 

Celts  and  Saxons,  however,  were  weary  of 
anarchy  and  war,  and  began  to  realise  better, 
how  much  good  St  Margaret  had  done,  by 


ST    MARGARET'S    CHILDREN     235 

contrasting  her  times  with  the  troubled  years 
since  her  death. 

William  Rufus  still  had  strong  objections  to 
Donald  Bane  as  a  neighbouring  sovereign,  and 
Edgar  Atheling  was  active  in  rousing  English 
sympathy  on  behalf  of  his  nephew  Edgar,  who 
had  now  reached  man's  estate.  Edgar  had  no 
love  for  war,  but  he  had  plenty  of  courage  when 
the  necessity  showed  itself,  and  on  this  occasion, 
the  chroniclers  tell  us,  he  was  encouraged  by 
dreams  and  visions,  urging  him  to  proceed  and 
promising  victory.  As  his  army  marched 
northward  across  the  country  between  the 
Solway  and  the  Forth,  St  Cuthbert  appeared  to 
him  in  glory  and  said  solemnly  : — "  Fear 
nothing,  Edgar;  God  has  given  thee  the 
victory." 

And  so  it  happened.  Victory  was  easy  and 
complete.  Donald  Bane  disappeared  from  the 
pages  of  history,  and  Edgar,  the  son  of 
St  Margaret,  became  King  of  Scotland.  Edgar 
the  Peaceable  and  Alexander  the  Fierce  had  both 
their  share  in  the  making  of  Scotland,  but  it  was 
David  the  Saint,  the  good  Queen's  youngest  son, 


236  ST  MARGARET 

who  did  most  for  Church  and  State.  We  have 
seen  how  he  "  illumined  the  land,"  as  an  ancient 
writer  says,  "  with  kirks  and  with  abbeys,"  and 
also  how  he  won  for  himself  the  title  of 
"  protector  of  the  poor."  When  he  marched 
into  England  to  support  the  claim  of  his  niece 
Matilda  against  the  usurper  Stephen,  his  army, 
gathered  from  all  parts  of  Scotland,  shows  how 
strong  was  his  hold  on  that  land  of  many  peoples. 
There  were  Highlanders  as  well  as  Lowlanders 
in  his  army,  and  also  the  wild  warriors  of  Bute 
and  Argyle.  The  Galloway  men  were  there  too, 
and  lastly  a  body  of  Norman  knights  who  had 
settled  in  Scotland.  David  was  defeated  at 
Northallerton,  but  he  was  able  to  rally  his  forces 
before  he  reached  the  Border,  and  Stephen  was 
glad  enough  to  buy  him  off  by  giving  him  the 
counties  of  Northumberland  and  Cumberland. 
King  David  spent  the  last  years  of  his  life  for  the 
most  part  at  Carlisle  and  died  there  in  1153. 
One  morning  at  dawn  he  was  found  in  his  room 
on  his  knees  "  with  his  two  hands  joined 
together  on  his  breast  and  raised  to  heaven." 


ST    MARGARET'S    CHILDREN     237 

His  attendants  thought  at  first  that  he  was  rapt 
in  prayer,  but  he  was  dead. 

For  two  hundred  years  the  direct  descendants 
of  St  Margaret  ruled  over  Scotland  and  this  is 
the  happiest  period  in  its  history.  It  took  an 
honourable  place  among  the  nations  of  Europe 
and  flourished  exceedingly. 

Churches,  monasteries  and  schools  appeared 
all  over  the  country,  good  laws  were  made  and 
kept,  commerce  grew  apace,  industries  prospered 
and  towns  sprang  up  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
every  navigable  river.  Forests  were  cut  down 
and  cultivated  fields  took  their  place.  The 
people  had  everywhere  plenty  to  do,  and  soon 
became  prosperous  and  happy.  The  reign  of 
Alexander  III.  was  especially  a  "  Golden  Age  " 
for  Scotland.  The  Northmen  were  ousted  for 
ever  and  peace  and  order  ruled  the  land. 
St  Margaret's  methods  had  proved  successful 
and  there  were  no  longer  crowds  of  destitute  and 
starving  poor  to  be  fed  and  clothed.  There  was 
work  for  all  who  were  able  to  do  it,  and  the 
monks  took  care  of  those  who  could  not  work. 
Improvements  and  progress  went  on  with 


238  ST  MARGARET 

scarce  a  check  until  the  doubly  dark  night  in 
1286  when  the  horse  of  Alexander  III.  stumbled 
and  fell  with  its  rider  over  the  Kinghorn  cliffs. 

Margaret,  the  Maid  of  Norway,  the  heiress  of 
Scotland,  died  two  years  after  her  grandfather, 
and  her  death  brought  on  Scotland  the  long  and 
harassing  war  of  Scottish  Independence. 

Four  of  St  Margaret's  sons  are  buried  in 
Dunfermline  Abbey,  and  with  them  lies  Duncan, 
their  half-brother.  lona  had  been  a  place  of 
royal  sepulture,  but,  with  St  Margaret's  burial, 
Dunfermline  took  its  place,  and  many  kings  and 
queens  lie  there  awaiting  the  dread  summons, 
"Arise  ye  dead  and  come  to  Judgment."  The 
last  King  of  Scotland  buried  in  Dunfermline  was 
Robert  the  Bruce. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

ST  MARGARET,  PATRON  OF  SCOTLAND 

"  THE  path  of  a  good  woman,"  says  Ruskin, 
' '  is  indeed  strewn  with  flowers ;  but  they  rise 
behind  her  steps,  not  before  them. 

'  Her  feet  have  touched  the  meadows  and  left 
the  daisies  rosy.' 

"  You  think  that  only  a  lover's  fancy?  How 
if  it  could  be  true  ?  You  think  this  also  perhaps 
only  a  poet's  fancy  : — 

'  E'en  the  slight  harebell  raised  its  head 
Elastic,  from  her  airy  tread.' 

"  Bait  it  is  little  to  say  of  a  woman  that  she  only 
does  not  destroy  as  she  passes ;  she  should 
revive;  the  harebells  should  bloom,  not  stoop  as 
she  passes.  I  mean  what  I  say  in  calm  English. 
You  have  heard  it  said  that  flowers  only  flourish 
rightly  in  the  garden  of  one  who  loves  them.  I 

239 


240  ST  MARGARET 

know  you  would  like  that  to  be  true.  You 
would  think  it  a  pleasant  magic  if  you  could 
flush  your  flowers  into  brighter  bloom  by  a  kind 
look  upon  them ;  nay  more,  if  your  look  had  the 
power  not  only  to  cheer  but  to  guard ;  if  you 
could  bid  the  black  blight  turn  away  and  the 
knotted  caterpillar  spare — if  you  could  bid  the 
dew  fall  upon  them  in  the  drought  and  say  to  the 
south  wind  in  frost,  '  Come,  thou  south  wind, 
and  breathe  upon  my  garden.1  This  you 
would  think  a  great  thing,  and  is  it  not  a  greater 
thing  that  all  this  you  can  do  for  fairer  flowers 
than  these — flowers  that  could  bless  you  for 
having  blest  them  and  will  love  you  for  having 
loved  them — flowers  that  have  thoughts  like 
yours  and  lives  like  yours ;  and  which  once 
saved,  you  save  for  ever?  Is  this  only  a  little 
power  ?  ' 

The  author  might  have  had  St  Margaret  in  his 
mind  as  he  wrote,  for  she,  the  perfect  woman  of 
flesh  and  blood,  exemplifies  all  the  beautiful 
things  he  says  of  womankind  far  better  than  any 
of  the  heroines  of  fiction,  lovely  as  they  are,  of 
whom  he  speaks.  St  Margaret,  Queen  in  every 


PATRON  OF   SCOTLAND          241 

sense,  understood  her  queenly  power  so  well  that 
the  flowers  indeed  sprang  up  and  blossomed  in 
the  paths  she  trod.  She  knew  how  to  "go 
down  among  them " — among  the  poor  and 
despairing  and  sinful — how  to  give  them  help 
and  courage  and  revive  sweet  hopefulness  in 
their  sorrowful,  crushed  hearts,  without  losing 
aught  of  her  own  shining  whiteness. 

We  have  seen  how  she  was  loved  for  her  good- 
ness while  she  lived,  and  how  for  centuries  after 
Ler  death  the  women  of  Scotland  looked  on  her  as 
the  model  of  all  that  was  good  and  gracious. 
Not  only  in  the  homes  of  the  poor  was  her  name 
a  household  word,  but  in  the  stately  dwellings  of 
the  noble  and  wealthy  as  well.  Mothers  of 
every  rank  told  their  daughters  of  sweet 
St  Margaret's  high  ideals  and  fair  example  and 
sought  to  make  them  gentle  and  strong  as  she 
was,  and  the  ladies  of  high  degree  who  followed 
her  as  Queens  of  Scotland  looked  for  no  greater 
earthly  glory  than  to  be  compared  with  the 
"  good  Queen.'* 

It  requires  strength  and  fortitude  to  be  a 
saint.  There  is  unceasing  warfare,  if  there  is 

Q 


242  ST  MARGARET 

constant  victory,  and  sometimes  the  signs  of 
struggle  show  themselves  in  a  suggestion  of 
sternness,  an  unbending  austerity  that  repels 
and  frightens  weaker  mortals.  Such  goodness 
appears  admirable  indeed,  but  not  always 
imitable — at  least  it  does  not  invite  imitation. 
St  Margaret  is  strong  and  brave  and  fearless  in 
her  goodness,  and  yet  her  virtue  never  keeps  us 
at  a  distance.  She  is  a  Queen,  too,  but  her  high 
station  places  no  barrier  between  her  and  us. 
The  more  we  study  her  life  and  character  the 
more  we  feel  her  to  be  a  friend.  If  she  were  in 
the  "  strong  tower "  of  Dunfermline  now,  or 
high  up  in  her  fortress  on  the  Castle  rock  in 
beautiful  Edinburgh,  it  would  seem  but  a  natural 
thing  for  those  in  trouble  and  dire  need  to  go  to 
her.  She  is  a  woman  like  ourselves,  with  all  her 
sanctity  and  high  station,  or,  at  least  she  is  a 
woman  such  as  any  one  of  us  might  become  if 
only  we  were  as  faithful  to  our  graces  as  she  was 
to  hers.  "But  we  are  not  Queens,"  objects 
one  little  maiden.  There  you  are  making  a  mis- 
take, my  child.  Every  woman — and  little 
maidens  are  the  women  of  the  future — is  a 


PATRON  OF  SCOTLAND         243 

queen.  Each  has  a  kingdom,  large  or  small, 
subject  to  her  rule,  and  it  rests  with  herself 
whether  she  will  seek  through  her  queenly 
power,  her  own  gratification  and  pleasure,  or  the 
happiness  and  welfare  of  her  subjects.  "  The 
stars  only  may  be  over  her  head,  the  glowworm 
in  the  night-cold  grass  may  be  the  only  fire  at 
her  feet;  but  home  is  yet  wherever  she  is;  and 
for  a  noble  woman  it  stretches  far  round  her, 
better  than  ceiled  with  cedar  or  painted  with 
vermilion,  shedding  its  quiet  light  far,  for 
those  who  else  were  homeless." 

High  station  and  wealth  are  secondary  con- 
siderations, little  maiden.  The  queenly  power 
is  in  yourself,  be  you  rich  or  poor,  princess  or 
peasant,  and  it  is  well  that  you  should  recognise 
this  early,  and  value  the  wonderful  gift  that  God 
has  given  you.  Do  not  waste  your  time  dream- 
ing of  glorious  things  which  you  mean  to  do  in 
the  future.  That  was  not  St  Margaret's  way. 
"Act  in  the  living  present."  Use  now  your 
little  opportunities  of  being  queenly,  and  then, 
when  greater  things  have  to  be  done,  you  will  be 
ready  for  them , 


244  ST  MARGARET 

God  placed  St  Margaret  high  that  her  light 
might  shine  the  farther,  but  if  she  had  been  a 
nun  like  her  sister,  or  a  noble  lady  in  a  lordly 
castle,  or  the  toil-worn  mistress  of  a  lowly  home, 
like  one  of  those  she  gladdened  in  Dunfermline, 
she  would  still  have  been  a  queen.  We  should 
not  have  heard  of  her,  perhaps,  but  Scotland 
would  nevertheless  have  been  better  for  her  life. 
In  any  station  she  would  have  set  self  aside  and 
sought  the  good  of  others,  making  her  beneficent 
influence  felt  in  ever  widening  circles  outward  to 
all  the  world,  and  this  just  because  of  her  whole- 
hearted love  of  God  and  her  desire  to  make  others 
love  Him. 

Not  every  saint  has  had  such  constant  love  and 
homage  as  St  Margaret.  In  her  own  age  and  in 
all  the  centuries  that  have  passed  since  she  lived, 
she  has  won  devoted  affection,  and  not  alone  from 
those  who  see  spiritual  things  as  she  saw  them, 
but  from  many  others  outside  the  Fold  she  loved 
so  well.  Perhaps  the  charm  is  her  perfect  woman- 
liness. She  is  "incorruptibly  good — instinctively, 
infallibly  wise,"  but,  always,  with  all  this,  she  is 
a.  gentle,  loving  woman,  full  of  kindly  sympathy 


PATRON   OF  SCOTLAND          245 

and  tender  helpfulness.  Perfect  in  every  aspect 
of  her  life,  as  daughter,  sister,  wife,  mother  and 
queen,  history  records  no  fault  of  hers  and  yet  she 
understands  human  nature  so  well  and  has  such 
marvellous  patience  with  the  weak  and  erring, 
that  it  is  evident  she  has  herself  known  struggle 
and  warfare  if  she  has  never  tasted  the  bitterness 
of  defeat. 

We  have  seen  how  she  was  loved  and  revered  by 
husband,  children  and  friends  and  how  the  fame 
of  her  good  works  travelled  to  other  lands — not 
only  to  England  but  also  beyond  the  sea  to  France 
and  Italy  and  her  own  distant  Hungary. 

After  her  death  mothers  called  their  daughters 
by  her  name,  hoping  to  see  reproduced  in  them 
some  of  the  virtues  of  their  saintly  namesake. 
Scottish  girls  of  every  degree  in  life  were  named 
"  Margaret  "  in  honour  of  the  good  Queen,  and 
even  in  our  own  day,  when  the  majority  of  Scots 
have  been  strangers  to  the  faith  of  St  Margaret 
for  three  hundred  years  the  old  custom  is  con- 
tinued. Few  Scottish  families  are  without  a 
"  Mary  "  or  a  "  Margaret  "  and  many  have  both. 
True,  the  Scots  do  not  name  their  girls  in  honour 


246  ST  MARGARET 

of  St  Mary  or  St  Margaret  either.  The  baby  is 
"  called  after  "  mother,  aunt,  or  grandmothej, 
already  so  named,  and  who  in  like  manner  got 
their  names  from  relatives.  A  few  hundred  years, 
however,  would  take  any  of  them  back  to  a  gentle 
Catholic  ancestor  in  the  "days  of  faith"  who 
called  her  child  "Mary"  or  "Margaret"  in 
honour  of  "  Our  Ladye  Sainte  Marie  "  or  the 
' '  goode  Queene, ' '  hoping  that  her  little  girl 
would  grow  up  to  imitate  the  virtues  of  the  dear 
patron  chosen  for  her. 

Even  now,  in  Protestant  Scotland,  St  Mar- 
garet's name  is  loved  and  venerated.  Needless  to 
say,  Catholics  hold  her  dear  as  they  have  ever 
done,  and  so  we  pass  over  their  devotion  to  her — 
the  churches  called  by  her  name,  the  schools 
under  her  patronage,  the  constant  prayers  rising 
to  her  for  the  conversion  of  the  land  she  loved. 
The  remarkable  thing  is  that  Protestants  who 
have,  as  far  as  they  could,  banished  Our  Lady 
herself  from  their  native  land,  have  only  expres- 
sions of  love  and  admiration  for  St  Margaret. 
No  name  of  higher  inspiration  could  be  found, 
when  Glasgow  University  opened  its  doors  to 


PATRON   OF   SCOTLAND          247 

women,  and  the  new  College  was  named  Queen 
Margaret's.  Who  can  say  but  that  the  good 
Queen  looks  kindly  on  the  institution?  It 
may  be  that  to  her  patronage  is  due  much  of 
the  noble  work  done  within  its  walls  and  by  its 
students. 

Protestant  writers,  and  especially  those  con- 
nected with  Fife,  vie  with  each  other  in  praising 
St  Margaret.  Looking,  as  they  do,  from  the 
outside,  they  cannot  understand  and  appreciate 
like  Catholics,  the  spiritual  beauty  of  her  life, 
but  they  give  her  unstinted  admiration  and 
generously  acknowledge  her  influence  on 
Scottish  womanhood  in  all  succeeding  genera- 
tions. 

"  Perhaps  there  is  no  more  beautiful  character 
recorded  in  history,"  says  Dr  Skene  in  his  "  Celtic 
Scotland,"  "  than  that  of  Margaret.    For  purity 
of  motives,  for  a  deep  sense  of  religion,  and  great 
personal  piety,  for  the  unselfish  performance  of 
whatever  duty  lay  before  her,  and  for  entire  self- 
abnegation,  she  is  unsurpassed." 
Dr  Boyd  has  his  tribute  also  : — 
"  There   is   but   one   story   of   her   touching 


248  ST  MARGARET 

beauty,  of  her  unselfish  and  holy  life,  of  her 
wonderful  influence  over  the  rude  people  among 
whom  it  was  appointed  her  to  live.'* 

But  it  is  in  Dunfermline  that  St  Margaret's 
memory  is  most  loved  and  honoured.  Catholics, 
again,  naturally,  are  foremost  in  devotion  to  her, 
and  both  church  and  school  are  St  Margaret's, 
but  Protestants  also  are  proud  of  the  sainted 
Queen  whose  memory  sheds  lustre  through  the 
mists  of  ages  on  their  historic  town. 

Painters  and  poets  seek  inspiration  from 
St  Margaret's  life,  and  love  to  call  themselves 
her  sons  and  daughters,  and  so  the  eleventh 
century  Queen  lives  still  in  the  country  of  her 
adoption  teaching  its  children,  as  she  taught  their 
forefathers  long  ago,  to  love  and  reverence  all  that 
is  beautiful  and  high  and  holy. 

St  Margaret  came  to  Scotland  eight  hundred 
years  ago  and  quickened  the  smouldering  embers 
of  our  faith  into  a  bright  flame  which  glowed  for 
five  hundred  years,  and  which  is  not  extinguished 
yet,  in  spite  of  centuries  of  Protestantism.  Nay  ! 
it  is  growing  bright  again. 

"  They  that  instruct  others  unto  justice,  shall 


PATRON  OF   SCOTLAND          249 

shine  as  stars  for  all  eternity  "  and  St  Margaret 
is  thus  shining  now,  close  to  the  Sacred  Heart  of 
Jesus. 

Sweet  Saint  of  Scotland  your  power  was  great 
while  you  lived  on  earth.  Surely  in  your  radiant 
glory  in  high  heaven,  united  as  you  are  to  Him 
you  loved  and  served  so  faithfully  here  below, 
your  influence  is  not  diminished. 

Our  fathers  needed  your  help  in  the  eleventh 
century,  but  we,  their  sons  and  daughters  of  the 
twentieth  century,  need  it  more. 

Pray  for  us,  that  we  in  our  measure  may  help 
to  spread  the  faith  in  our  country,  especially 
by  the  example  of  holy  Catholic  lives.  Pray  also 
for  your  truant  children,  wandering  far  from 
home  and  so  blinded  by  the  mists  of  error  and 
prejudice  that  they  cannot  see  their  way.  Bring 
them  back,  dear  St  Margaret,  to  your  own  loved 
faith,  that,  once  again  in  Scotland,  there  may  be 
"  one  fold  and  one  Shepherd."  Pray  for  us  all, 
that,  like  you,  we  may  live  only  to  love  God  and, 
that  dying,  we  may  join  your  sweet  com- 
pany, to  live  with  Him  and  love  Him  for  all 
eternity. 


250  ST  MARGARET 

Saxon  Princess  1    Margaret  1 

Given  to  us  by  the  stormy  sea, 
The  light  of  faith  was  dimming  to  darkness, 
When  God  had  pity  and  sent  us  thee. 
Margaret  of  Scotland,  hark  to  thy  people, 

Pleading  from  city  and  glen; 
Look  on  us,  pity  us,  pray  for  our  country; 
Win  back  our  lost  faith  again. 

Flower  of  the  Southland!    Margaret  1 
Storms  have  arisen  and  wrought  us  ill 

Since  thou  wert  planted  in  our  wild  Northland; 
But  lo !  it  glows  with  thy  beauty  still. 

Queen  of  Scotland  1    Margaret! 

Living  for  aye  in  our  land  art  thou, 
Reigning  of  old  o'er  our  stern  forefathers, 

Throned  in  the  hearts  of  their  children  now. 

Pearl  of  women!    Margaret! 

The  sunshine  followed  thy  presence  fair; 
Sweet    flowers    sprang    up    where    thy    footsteps 
lingered, 

For  seeds  of  love  had  been  scattered  there. 

Help  of  thy  people !    Margaret ! 

Scotland  is  calling  for  help  again; 
Blindly  she  seeks  for  her  long-lost  treasure — 

Help,  and  her  seeking  will  not  be  vain. 


INDEX 


ABERDEEN,  12,  160 
Abernethy,  107,  189,  234 
Aelred,  208 
Agatha,  Princess,   15,  23,  36, 

49 

Alexander  I.,  198,  222 
Alexander  II.,  7,  222 
Alexander  III.,  237 
Alfred,   16 
Alne,  River,  206 
Alnwick,  205 

Andrew's,  St,  74,  132,  166,  198 
Angles,  121,  128 
Anselm,  St,  232 
Anthony's,   St,    Chapel,    118 
Antiquarian   Society.    109 
Argyle,  183,  221,  236 
Arran,  218 
Arthur's  Seat,  118 
Augustine,   St,    128,    147 

BALM  WELL,  117 
Bannockburn,  97,   112 
Bartulph,    1 57 
Bodleian   Library,    177 
Borthwick,   113 
Boyd,   Dr,  247 
Bjice's,    St.   Day,   21 
Bruce,   Robert  The,   209,   238 
Bute,  218,  221,  236 

CALEDONIA,  106,  120,  124,  191 
Candida  Casa,   121 
Canmore,  Malcolm,  i,  28,  37, 
86,  104,  141,  180,  225 


Canute,  21 

Carham,   127,   183 

Carlisle,  236 

Catherine,   St,  of  Alexandria, 

us 

Catherine's,   St,   Grave,    117 
Cave,  St  Margaret's,  5,  64 
Christina,    Princess,    31,    106, 

231 

Clyde,  72,  1 20 
Columba,  St,  n,  94,  128,  134, 

M7 
College,     Queen     Margaret's, 

130 

Crichton,  113 
Crusade,   107 
Culdees,  151,  170 
Cumberland,    189,    199,    236 
Cuthbert,  St,  235 

DALRIADA,  56,   124,   183 

Danelagh,  21 

Danes,  21,  94,  129 

David  I.,  7,  93,  102,  119,  209, 

222,    236 

Donald   Bane,    191,   203,   216, 

234 

Douay,  227 
Druids,    10,    106 
Duncan,   King,    157,    183,   216 
Duncan,  Prince,  234,  238 
Dunfermline,    i,    40,    73>    Q1. 

106,  136,   195,  221,  238 
Dunkeld,   132,  200 
Dunsinane,  28,    184,  216 


252 


INDEX 


Durham,  196,  215,  222 

EASTER,  49,  147 

Edgar  Atheling,   15,   107,   157, 

185,  230 

Edgar,   Prince,    199,   207,  230 
Edinburgh,    9,    73,    84,    104, 

156,   195,  207,  227 
Edmund   Ironside,    14 
Edmund,  Prince,   190,  200 
Edric,  Count,   14 
Edward  the  Confessor,  22,  41 
Edward  the   Stranger,    14,   29 
Edward,   Prince,    199,   212 
Edward  I.,   182,  209 
Egypt,  115,  181 
Elfnc,  174 

Elizabeth,  St,  of  Hungary,  66 
Ethelred  the  Unready,  22 
Ethelred,    Prince,   200 

FIFE,  i,  40,  84,  119,  160,  247 
Fordun,  41,   190 
Forth,  Firth  of,  12,  38,  136 
Forth  Bridge.  12,  168 
Fothad,        Bishop       of       St. 

Andrew's,  49 
Francis,  no 
Freeman,   134,  206 
French  Revolution,  227 

GAELIC,  47,  72,  150 
Galloway,   121 
Germany,  121 
Gregory,  Pope,  31,   127 
Gunhilda,  21 

HARALD  HARDRADA,   30 
Hardicanute,  22 
Harold  Godwin,  30 
Hebrides,  217 
Henry  I.,  231 
Holyrood,  102,  119,  209 
Holy   Trinity   Church,   7,   221 
Hope,    St    Margaret's,    12,    39 
Hungary,    14,  37,    134,    185 
Henry,  St,  of  Bavaria,   16 


Helen,  St,  116 

INGIBIORG,  28,   141 
lona,   124,   130,   141 
Innocent  IV.,  Pope,  222 
Inchgarvie,  43 

JACOB,  181 
James  I.,  102 
James  VI.,   117 
Jedburgh,   102 
Jutes,  121 

KENNETH  MCALPINE,  126,  183 
Kent,  128 
King's  Park,   118 
Kingdom  of  Fife,   12,  85 
Knox,  John,  2,  226 

LANFRANC,  171 

Leslie,   113,  160 

Lia  Fail,   181 

Liberton,   1 16 

Loch  Leven,    168 

Loch,   St  Margaret's,   118 

Lords    of    the    Congregation, 

130 

Lothian,  9,  127,  157,  183 
Lyndesay,  113 

MACBETH,  28,  157,  183 
Magnus,  King  of  Norway,  141 
Maidens'  Castle,  43,    105,    195 
Malcolm   II.,    127 
Malcolm's  Cross,   207 
Margaret,   St,  of  France,   109 
Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  12,  227 
Mary  of  Guise,  228 
Mary,  Princess,  231 
Matilda   or   Maud,    Queen   of 

England,    74,   84,    114,    183, 

232 

Maxwell,    113 
Mediterranean,   181 
Melrose,   102 
Mercer,  3 
Montacute,    190 


INDEX 


253 


Morel,  207 
Morrison,  6 
Muckros,  167 

NINIAN,  ST,  n,  120,  135 
Normandy,  22,  33 
Normans,  35,  107,  200 
Northallerton,    236 
Northumbria,    125,    199 
Northumberland,   225,   236 
Norwegians,   22,   218 

ODIN,  132 

Orkney  Islands,  135 

PATON,  SIR  NOEL,  53 

Patras,  167 

Patrick,   St,    123 

Paul,  St,  153 

Peter,  St,  121,  123,  177 

Percy,  206 

Pharaoh,  181 

Philip  II.,  King  of  Spain,  227 

Picts  and  Scots,   120,   125 

Pittencrieff,   3 

Pitreavie,  43 

Pius  IX.,  227 

Princes    Street    Gardens,    106 

QUEEN'S  FERRY,  9,  119,  168, 
220 

RANDOLPH,  no 
Reformation,  7,  97,   109,   117, 

228 

Regulus,  or  Rule,  St,   160 
Robert  of  Mowbray,  207 
Robert  of  Normandy,  107 
Roman  Empire,  121 
Rome,   120,   123,   131,  177 
Rosythj  12,  40 
Rufus,    William,    196 


SAXONS,  121,  161,  200 

Scone,  28,  126 

Scota,    181 

Scott,  Sir  Walter,  38 

Shakespeare,  82,  157,  183,  316 

Shetland   Islands,    125 

Simeon  of  Durham,   187 

Sinai,   Mt.,   116 

Skene,  Dr,  247 

Solway    Firth,    199 

Spain,  227 

Stamford  Bridge,   35 

Stephen,    King    of    England, 

233 

Stephen,  King  of  Hungary,  15 
Stone,  St  Margaret's,  9,  91 
Strathclyde,    120 
Succat,   122 
Sweden,   14 
Sweyn,  King  of  Norway,  21 

THEODORIC,  214 

Thor,  122 

Thorfinn,  Earl,  28,  141 

Tostig,  32,  35 

Turgot,  74,  84,  98,   138,   150, 

179,    198,   214 
Tweed,   127,    183 
Tynemouth,  207,  222 

VAUX,  113 

Victoria,  Queen,   109 

WELL,    ST    MARGARET'S,   6, 

118 

Western  Islands,   141,  218 
Westminster    Abbey,    36,    183 
Whithorn,    121 

William   of   Malmesbury,    102 
William    the    Conqueror,    34, 

189 

Witan,  32,  35,  36 
Wynton,   190,  231 


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